. PAROCHIAL AND PLAIN SERMONS VOLUME III. t/ RIVINGTONS . ... ... ... ••• Waterloo Place High Street •• ... Trinity Street PAROCHIAL AND PLAIN SERMONS BY JOHN HENRY NEWMAN, B.D. FORMERLY VICAR OF ST. MARY'S, OXEORD IN EIGHT VOLUMES VOL. III. MEW EDITION' RIVINGTONS , ©storfc, attb (Eambribge 1870 TO THE VENERABLE ROBERT HURRELL FROUDE, ARCHDEACON OF TOTNES, THE FOLLOWING VOLUME, WITH EVERY FEELING OF ESTEEM AND ATTACHMENT, AND WITH A GRATEFUL REMB'MBRANCE OF MANY KINDNESSES RECEIVED, 13 RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED, BY THE AUTHOR. Tfa Conversion of St. Taut, 1836 CONTENTS. SERMON I. ABEAHAM AND LOT. 12..;u; 13, 22. 84 Faith and Obedience. wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee, because he trusteth in Thee."1 Yet, in the pre- ceding verse he had proclaimed, "Open ye the gates (of the heavenly city) that the righteous nation, which keepeth the Truth, may enter in." In like manner Solomon says, "By mercy and truth iniquity is purged:" Daniel, that " mercy to the poor " is a " breaking off of sin," and "an healing of error:" Nehemiah prays God to " remember him," and " not wipe out his good deeds for the House of his God;" yet Habakkuk says, the "just shall live by his/a»."2 What honour our Saviour put on faith I need hardly remind you. He blessed Peter's confession, and, in prospect, those who, though they saw Him not on earth, as Thomas, yet believe ; and in His miracles of mercy, faith was the condition He exacted for the exertion of His powers of healing and restoration. On one occa- sion He says, "All things are possible to him that "believeth."B Yet, afterwards, in His solemn account of the last Judgment, He tells us that it is obedience to His will which will then receive His blessing, " Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me."4 Again, the Angel said to Cornelius, " Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God ;" and Cornelius is described as " a devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people and prayed to God alway."5 Yet it is in the very same 1 Isaiah xxvi. 2, 3. 2 Prov. xvi. 6 ; Dan. iv. 27 ; Neh. xiii. 14 ; Hab. ii. 4. ? Mark ix. 23. 4 Matt, xxv. 40. 5 Acts x. 2. Faith and Obedience. 85 Book of Acts that we read St. Paul's words, " Believe, and tliou slialt be saved."1 His Epistles afford us still more striking instances of the intimate association existing in the Apostle's thoughts between believing and obeying, as though exhibitions of one and the same spiritual character of mind. For instance, he says that Abraham was accepted (not by ceremonial observ- ances, but) by faith, yet St. James says he was accepted by works of obedience. The meaning is clear, that Abraham found favour in God's sight, because he gave himself up to Him : this is faith or obedience, which- ever we please to call it. No matter whether we say, Abraham was favoured because his faith embraced God's promises, or because his obedience cherished God's commands, for God's commands are promises, and His promises commands to a heart devoted to Him; so that, as there is no substantial difference between command and promise, so there is likewise none between obedience and faith. Perhaps it is scarcely correct even to say that faith comes first and obedience follows as an inseparable second step, and that faith, as being the first step, is accepted. For not a single act of faith can be named but what has in it the nature of obedience, that is, implies the malting an effort and a consequent victory. What is the faith which earns Baptism — the very faith which appropriates the free gift of grace — but an acquiescence of the reason in the Gospel Mysteries? Even the thief upon the Cross had (it would seem) to rule his reason, to struggle against sight, and to bring under pride and obstinacy, A Acts xvl 31. 85 Faith and Obedience. when lie turned to Him as his Saviour, who seemed to mortal eyes only his fellow-sufferer. A mere confession or prayer, which might not be really an act of obedience in us, might be such in him. On the other hand, faith does not cease with the first act, but continues. It works with obedience. In proportion as a man believes, so he obeys; they come together, and grow together, and last through life. Neither are perfect ; both are on the same level of imperfection; they keep pace with each other; in proportion to the imperfection of one, so is the imperfection of the other; and, as the one advances, so does the other also. And now I have described the temper of mind which has, in every age, been acceptable to Almighty God, in its two aspects of faith and obedience. In every age "the righteous shall live by faith." And it is remarkable that these words of the prophet Habakkuk, which St. Paul quotes three several times, to show the identity of true religion under all dispensations, do also represent it under these very two characteristics, Eighteousness and Faith. Before closing the subject, however, it may be necessary, in a few words, to explain why it is that, in some parts of St. Paul's Epistles, a certain stress is laid upon faith over and above the other parts of a religious character, in our justification. The reason seems to be as follows : the Gospel being pre-eminently a covenant of grace, faith is so far of more excellence than other virtues, because it confesses this beyond all others. Works of obedience witness to God's just claims upon us, not to His mercy : but faith comes Faith and Obedience. 87 empty-handed, hides even its own worth, and does but point at that precious scheme of redemption which God's love has devised for sinners. Hence, it is the frame of mind especially suitable to us, and is said, in a special way, to justify us, because it glorifies God, witnessing that He accepts those and those only, who confess they are not worthy to be accepted, On this account, faith has a certain prerogative of dignity under the Gospel. At the same time we must never forget that the more usual mode of doctrine both with Christ and His Apostles is to refer our acceptance to obedience to the commandments, not to faith; and this, as it would appear, from a merciful anxiety in their teaching, lest, in contemplating God's grace, we should forget our own duties. To conclude. If, after all, to believe and to obey be but different characteristics of one and the same state of mind, in what a most serious error are whole masses of men involved at this day, who are commonly con- sidered religious ! It is undeniable that there are multitudes who would avow with confidence and ex- ultation that they put obedience only in the second place in their religious scheme, as if it were rather a necessary consequence of faith than requiring a direct attention for its own sake ; a something subordinate to it, rather than connatural and contemporaneous with it. It is certain, however startling it is to reflect upon it, that numbers do not in any true sense believe that they shall be judged ; they believe in a coming judgment as regards the wicked, but they do not believe that all men, that they themselves personally, will undergo it. 88 Faith and Obedience. I wish from my heart that the persons in question could be persuaded to read Scripture with their own eyes, and take it in a plain and natural way, instead of perplexing themselves with their human systems, and measuring and arranging its inspired declarations by an artificial rule. Are they quite sure that in the next world they will be able to remember these strained interpretations in their greatest need? Then surely, while we wait for the Judgment, the luminous sentences of Divine Truth will come over us, first one and then another, and we shall wonder how we ever misunder- stood them ! Then will they confront us in their simplicity and entireness, and we shall understand that nothing can be added to them, nothing taken away. Then at length, if not before, we shall comprehend our Lord's assurance, that " He will reward every man according to his works ;" St. Paul's, that "we must all appear before the Judgment-seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad ;" St. Peter's, that " He is ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead;" St. James's, that "a man is justified by works and not by faith only ;" and St. John's, that "they are blessed that do His commandments, that they might have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city." 1 "Whatever else may be true, these declarations, so solemnly, so repeatedly made, must hold good in their plain and obvious sense, and may not be infringed or superseded. 1 Matt. xvi. 27 ; 2 Cor. v. 10 ; Acts x. 42 ; James ii. 24 ; Kev. xxii. 14. Faith and Obedience. 89 So many testimonies combined are " an anchor of the soul, sure and steadfast," and if they mean something else than what they all say, what part of Scripture can we dare trust in future as a guide and consolation ? " 0 Lord, Thy Word endureth for ever in heaven !" but the expositions of men are written on the sea-shore, and are blotted out before the evening. SEEMON VII. \ CHRISTIAN REPENTANCE. LUKE xv. 18, 19. "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee, and am no more worthy to be catted thy son ; make me as one of thy hired servants." very best that can be said of the fallen and re- deemed race of Adam is, that they confess their fall, and condemn themselves for it, and try to recover themselves. And this state of mind, which is in fact the only possible religion left to sinners, is represented to us in the parable of the Prodigal Son, who is de- scribed as receiving, then abusing, and then losing God's blessings, suffering from their loss, and brought to himself by the experience of suffering. A poor service indeed to offer, but the best we can offer, to make obedience our second choice when the world deserts us, when that is dead and lost to us wherein we were held! Let it not be supposed, because I say this, that I think that in the life-time of each one of us there is some clearly marked date at which he began to seek God, and from which he has served him faithfully. This may be so in the case of this person or that, but Christian Repentance. 91 it is far from being the rule. We may not so limit the mysterious work of the Holy Ghost. He condescends to plead with us continually, and what He cannot gain from us at one time, He gains at another. Eepentance is a work carried on at diverse times, and but gradually and with many reverses perfected. Or rather, and without any change in the meaning of the word re- pentance, it is a work never complete, never entire — unfinished both in its inherent imperfection, and on account of the fresh and fresh occasions which arise for exercising it. We are ever sinning, we must ever be renewing our sorrow and our purpose of obedience, repeating our confessions and our prayers for pardon. JSTo need to look back to the first beginnings of our repentance, should we be able to trace these, as some- thing solitary and peculiar in our religious course ; we are ever but beginning ; the most perfect Christian is to himself but a beginner, a penitent prodigal, who has squandered God's gifts, and comes to Him to be tried over again, not as a son, but as a hired servant. In this parable, then, we need not understand the description of the returning prodigal to imply that there is a state of disobedience and subsequent state of conversion definitely marked in the life of Christians generally. It describes the state of all Christians at all times, and is fulfilled more or less, according to cir- cumstances, in this case or that ; fulfilled in one way and measure at the beginning of our Christian course, and in another at the end. So I shall now consider it, viz., as describing the nature of all true repentance. 1. First, observe, the prodigal son said, " I am no 92 Christian Repentance. more worthy to be called Thy son, make me as one of Thy hired servants." We know that God's service is perfect freedom, not a servitude; but this it is in the case of those who have long served Him ; at first it is a kind of servitude, it is a task till our likings and tastes come to be in unison with those which God has sanctioned. It is the happiness of Saints and Angels in heaven to take pleasure in their duty, and nothing but their duty ; for their mind goes that one way, and pours itself out in obedience to God, spontaneously and with- out thought or deliberation, just as man sins naturally. This is the state to which we are tending if we give ourselves up to religion ; but in its commencement, religion is necessarily almost a task and a formal service. When a man begins to see his wickedness, and resolves on leading a new life, he asks, What must I do ? he has a wide field before him, and he does not know how to enter it. He must be bid to do some particular plain acts of obedience, to fix him. He must be told to go to Church regularly, to say his prayers morning and evening, and statedly to read the Scriptures. This will limit his efforts to a certain end, and relieve him of the perplexity and indecision which the greatness of his work at first causes. But who does not see that this going to Church, praying in private, and reading Scrip- ture, must in his case be, in great measure, what is called a form and a task ? Having been used to do as he would, and indulge himself, and having very little understanding or liking for religion, he cannot take pleasure in these religious duties ; they will necessarily be a weariness to him ; nay, he will not be able even to Christian Repentance. 93 give his attention to them. NOT will he see the use of them ; he will not be able to find they make him better though he repeat them again and again. Thus his obedience at first is altogether that of a hired servant, " The servant knoweth not what his lord doeth."1 This is Christ's account of him. The servant is not in his lord's confidence, does not understand what he his aim- ing at, or why he commands this and forbids that. He executes the commands given him, he goes hither and thither, punctually, but by the mere letter of the com- mand. Such is the state of those who begin religious obedience. They do not see anything come of their devotional or penitential services, nor do they take pleasure in them; they are obliged to defer to God's word simply because it is His word ; to do which im- plies faith indeed, but also shows they are in that condition of a servant which the prodigal felt himselt to be in at best. Now, I insist upon this, because the conscience of a repentant sinner is often uneasy at finding religion a task to him. He thinks he ought to rejoice in the Lord at once, and it is true he is often told to do so ; he is often taught to begin by cultivating high affections. Perhaps he is even warned against offering to God what is termed a formal service. Now this is reversing the course of a Christian's life. The prodigal son judged better, when he begged to be made one of his father's servants — he knew his place. We must legin religion with what looks like a form. Our fault will be, not in beginning it as a form, but in continuing it as a form. 1 John xv. 15. 94 Christian Repentance. For it is our duty to be ever striving and praying to enter into the real spirit of our services, and in propor- tion as we understand them and love them, they will cease to be a form and a task, and will be the real expres- sions of our minds. Thus shall we gradually be changed in heart from servants into sons of Almighty God. And though from the very first, we must be taught to look to Christ as the Saviour of sinners, still His very love will frighten, while it encourages us, from the thought of our ingratitude. It will fill us with remorse and dread of judgment, for we are not as the heathen, we have received privileges, and have abused them. 2. So much, then, on the condition of the repentant sinner ; next, let us consider the motives which actuate him in his endeavours to serve God. One of the most natural, and among the first that arise in the mind, is that of propitiating Him. When we are conscious to ourselves of having offended another, and wish to be forgiven, of course we look about for some means of setting ourselves right with him. If it be a slight offence, our overtures are in themselves enough, the mere expression that we wish our fault forgotten. But if we have committed some serious injury, or behaved with any special ingratitude, we, for a time, keep at a distance, from a doubt how we shall be received. If we can get a common friend to mediate in our be- half, our purpose is best answered. But even in that case we are not satisfied with leaving our interests to another ; we try to do something for ourselves ; and on perceiving any signs of compassion or placability in the person offended, we attempt to approach him with pro- Christian Repentance. 95 pitiations of our own, either very humble confession, or some acceptable service. It was under this feeling that Jacob attempted to conciliate the governor of Egypt (whom he knew not to be his son Joseph), with a pre- sent of the best fruits of the land, a little balm, and a little honey, spices, and myrrh, nuts, and almonds." And this holds good when applied to the case of sinners desiring forgiveness from God. The marks of His mercy all around us are strong enough to inspire us with some general hope. The very fact that He still continues our life, and has not at once cast us into hell, shows that He is waiting awhile before the wrath comes upon us to the uttermost. Under these circumstances it is natural that the conscience-stricken sinner should look round him for some atonement with which to meet his God. And this in fact has been the usual course of religion in all ages. Whether " with burnt-offerings and calves of a year old, with thousands of rams, and ten thousands of rivers of oil, with the offering of a man's first-born for his transgression, the fruit of his body for the sin of his soul;" or, in a higher way, "by doing justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with our God ; " l by some means or other, repentant sinners have attempted to win God's attention and engage His favour. And this mode has, before now, been graciously accepted by God, though He generally chose the gift which He would accept. Thus Jacob was instructed to sacrifice on the altar at Bethel, after his return from Padan-aram. David, on the other hand, speaks of the more spiritual sacrifice in the fifty-first Psalm : " The 1 Micah vi. 6-8. g6 Christian Repentance. sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, 0 God, Thou wilt not despise." Such are the services of the penitent, as suggested by nature, and approved by God Himself in the Old Testament. But now, turning to the parable of the prodigal son, we find nothing of this kind in it. There is no mention made here of any offering on his part to his father, any propitiatory work This should be well observed. The truth is, that our Saviour has shown us in all things a more perfect way than was ever before shown to man. As He promises us a more exalted holiness, an exacter self-command, a more generous self-denial, and a fuller knowledge of truth, so He gives us a more true and noble repentance. The most noble repentance (if a fallen being can be noble in his fall), the most decorous conduct in a conscious sinner, is an unconditional sur- render of himself to God — not a bargaining about terms, not a scheming (so to call it) to be received back again, but an instant surrender of himself in the first instance. Without knowing what will become of him, whether God will spare or not, merely with so much hope in his heart as not utterly to despair of pardon, still not looking merely to pardon as an end, but rather looking to the claims of the Benefactor whom he has offended, and smitten with shame, and the sense of his ingratitude, he must surrender himself to his lawful Sovereign. He is a runaway offender ; he must come back, as a very first step, before anything can be determined about him, bad or good ; he is a rebel, and must lay down his arms. Self-devised offerings might do in a less serious matter ; as an atonement for sin, they imply a defective view of Christian Repentance. 97 the evil and extent of sin in his own case. Such is thai; perfect way which nature shrinks from, but which our Lord enjoys in the parable — a surrender. The prodigal son waited not for his father to show signs of placability. He did not merely approach a space, and then stand as a coward, curiously inquiring, and dreading how his father felt towards him. He made up his mind at once to degradation at the best, perhaps to rejection. He arose and went straight on towards his father, with a collected mind; and though his relenting father saw him from a distance, and went out to meet him, still his purpose was that of an instant frank submission. Such must be Christian repentance : First we must put aside the idea of finding a remedy for our sin ; then, though we feel the guilt of it, yet we must set out firmly towards God, not knowing for certain that we shall be forgiven. He, indeed, meets us on our way with the tokens of His favour, and so He bears up human faith, which else would sink under the apprehension of meet- ing the Most High God ; still, for our repentance to be Christian, there must be in it that generous temper of self-surrender, the acknowledgment that we are un- worthy to be called any more His sons, the abstinence from all ambitious hopes of sitting on His right hand or His left, and the willingness to bear the heavy yoke of bond-servants, if He should put it upon us. This, I say, is Christian repentance. Will it be said, " It is too hard for a beginner ?" true : but I have not been describing the case of a beginner. The parable teaches us what the character of the true penitent is, not how men actually at first come to God. The longer [III] G 9 8 Christian Repentance. we live, the more we may hope to attain this higher kind of repentance, viz., in proportion as we advance in the other graces of the perfect Christian character. The truest kind of repentance as little comes at first, as perfect conformity to any other part of God's Law. It is gained by long practice — it will come at length. The dying Christian will fulfil the part of the returning prodigal more exactly than he ever did in his former years. When first we turn to God in the actual history of our lives, our repentance is mixed with all kinds of imperfect views and feelings. Doubtless there is in it something of the true temper of simple submission ; but the wish of appeasing God on the one hand, or a hard-hearted insensibility about our sins on the other, mere selfish dread of punishment, or the expectation of a sudden easy pardon, these, and such-like principles, influence us, whatever we may say or may think we feel. It is, indeed, easy enough to have good words put into our mouths, and our feelings roused, and to profess the union of utter self-abandonment and enlightened sense of sin ; but to claim is not really to possess these excellent tempers. Eeally to gain these is a work of time. It is when the Christian has long fought the good fight of faith, and by experience knows how few and how imperfect are his best services ; then it is that he is able to acquiesce, and most gladly acquiesces in the statement, that we are accepted by faith only in the merits of our Lord and Saviour. When he surveys his life at the close of it, what is there he can trust in ? what act of it will stand the scrutiny of the Holy God ? of course no part of it, so much is plain without saying Christian Repentance. 99 a word. But further, what part of it even is a sufficient evidence to himself of his own sincerity and faithful- ness ? This is the point which I urge. How shall he know that he is still in a state of grace after all his 'sins ? Doubtless he may have some humble hope of his acceptance. St. Paul speaks of the testimony of his conscience as consoling him; but his conscience also tells him of numberless actual sins, and numberless omissions of duty; and with the awful prospect of eternity before him, and in the weakness of declining health, how shall he collect himself to appear before God ? Thus he is, after all, in the very condition of the returning prodigal, and cannot go beyond him, though he has served God ever so long. He can but surrender himself to God, as after all, a worse than unprofitable servant, resigned to God's will, whatever it is, with more or less hope of pardon, as the case may be; doubting not that Christ is the sole meritorious Author of all grace, resting simply on Him who, "if He will, can make him clean," but not without fears about himself, because unable, as he well knows, to read his own heart in that clear unerring way in which God reads it. Under these circumstances, how vain it is to tell him of his own good deeds, and to bid him look back on his past consistent life ! This reflection will rarely comfort him ; and when it does, it will be the recollection of the instances of God's mercy towards him in former years which will be the chief ground of encouragement in it. No, his true stay is, that Christ came " to call sinners to repentance," that " He died for the ungodly." He acknowledges and adopts, as far as he can, St. Paul's ioo Christian Repentance. words, and nothing beyond them, "This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief."1 Who shall dare approach Christ at the dreadful Day of Judgment, who has rejected the calling of His Spirit here ? Who shall then dare to surrender himself to the great God, when hell is opened ready to receive him ? Alas ! it is only because some hope is left to us that we dare give ourselves up to Him here ; despair ever keeps away. But then, when He takes His seat as the severe Judge of sinners, who, among His slothful disobedient servants, will willingly present himself? Surely the time of submission will then be over; resignation has no place among fallen spirits ; they are swept away by the uncontrollable power of God. "Bind him hand and foot, and take him away;"2 such will be the dreadful command. They would struggle if they could. And in hell they will be still tormented by the worm of proud rebellious hatred of God! Not even ages will reconcile them to a hard endurance of their fate ; not even the dry apathy in which unbelievers on earth take refuge, will be allowed them. There is no fatalism in the place of torment. The devils see their doom was their own fault, yet they are unable to be sorry for it. It is their will that is in direct energetic variance with the will of God, and they know it. Consider this, my brethren, and lay it to heart. Doubtless you must render yourselves to God's mercy 1 Matt. ix. 13 ; Rom, v. 6 ; 1 Tim. i. 15. 2 Matt. xxii. 13. Christian Repentance. 101 here, or else be forced away before His anger here- after. " To-day, while it is called to-day, harden not your hearts."1 1 Heb. iii. 7-13. SEEMON VIII. i CONTRACTED VIEWS IN RELIGION. LUKE xv. 29. **io, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment ; and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might maJce merry with my friends." is a general correspondence between this parable, and that in St. Matthew's gospel of the two sons whom their father bade go work in his vineyard ; but they differ as regards the character of the profes- sedly obedient son : in St. Matthew he says, " I go, sir, and went not;" in the parable before us he is of a far different class of Christians, though not without his faults. There is nothing to show that he is insincere in his profession, though in the text he complains in a very unseemly and foolish way. He bears a consider- able resemblance to the labourers in the vineyard, who complained of their master ; though they are treated with greater severity. The elder brother of the prodigal complained of his father's kindness towards the penitent ; the labourers of the vineyard murmured against the good-man of the house for receiving and rewarding those who came late to his service as Contracted Views in Religion. 103 liberally as themselves. They, however, spoke in selfishness and presumption; but he in perplexity, as it would appear, and distress of mind. Accordingly, he was comforted by his father, who graciously in- formed him of the reason of his acting as he had done. " Son, thou art ever with me," he says, " and all that I have is thine. It was meet that we should make merry and be glad ; for this thy brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found." Now let us try to understand the feelings of the elder brother, and to apply the picture to the circum- stances in which we find ourselves at present. First, then, in the conduct of the father, there seemed, at first sight, an evident departure from the rules of fairness and justice. Here was a reprobate son received into his favour on the first stirrings of repent- ance. What was the use of serving him dutifully, if there were no difference in the end between the righteous and the wicked ? This is what we feel and act upon in life constantly. In doing good to the poor, for instance, a chief object is to encourage industrious and provident habits ; and it is evident we should hurt and disappoint the better sort, and defeat our object, if, after all, we did not take into account the difference of their conduct, though we promised to do so, but gave those who did not work nor save all the benefits granted to those who did. The elder brother's case, then, seemed a hard one; and that, even without supposing him to feel jealous, or to have unsuitable notions of his own importance and usefulness. Apply this to the case of religion, and it still holds good. At IO4 Contracted Views in Religion. first sight, the reception of the penitent sinner seems to interfere with the reward of the faithful servant of God. Just as the promise of pardon is abused "by "bad men to encourage themselves in sinning on, that grace may abound; so, on the other hand, it is misappre- hended by the good, so as to dispirit them. For what is our great stay and consolation amid the perturbations of this world ? The truth and justice of God. This is' our one light in the midst of darkness. " He loveth righteousness, and hateth iniquity ; " " just and right is He." Where else should we find rest for our foot all over the world ? Consider in how mysterious a state all things are placed; the wicked are uppermost in power and name, and the righteous are subjected to bodily pain and mental suffering, as if they did not serve God. What a temptation is this to unbelief ! The Psalmist felt it when he spoke of the prosperity of the wicked. " Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world; they increase in riches. Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency."1 It is to meet this difficulty that Almighty God has vouchsafed again and again to declare the unswerving rule of His government — favour to the obedient, punishment to the sinner; that there is " no respect of persons with Him ; " that " the right- eousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him."2 Recol- lect how often this is declared in the book of Psalms. " The Lord knoweth the way of the righteous : but the way of the ungodly shall perish." "The righteous 1 Ps. Ixxiii. 12, 13. 2 Rom. ii. 11 ; Ezek. xviii. 20. Contracted Views in Religion. 105 Lord loveth righteousness; His countenance doth behold the upright." "With the merciful Thou wilt show Thyself merciful ; with an upright man Thou wilt show Thyself upright. With the pure Thou wilt show Thyself pure; and with the froward Thou wilt show Thyself froward. For Thou wilt save the afflicted people; but wilt bring down high looks." "Many sorrows shall be to the wicked; but he that trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall compass him about." "Do good, 0 Lord, unto those that be good."1 These declarations, and numberless others like them, are familiar to us all; and why, I say, so often made, except to give us that one fixed point for faith to rest upon, while all around us is changing and disappointing us ? viz., that we are quite sure of peace in the end, bad as things may now look, if we do but follow the rule of conscience, avoid sin, and obey God. Hence, St. Paul tells us that " he that cometh to God, must believe that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him."2 Accordingly, when we witness the inequalities of the present world, we comfort ourselves by reflecting that they will be put right in another. Now the restoration of sinners seems to interfere with this confidence ; it seems, at first sight, to put bad and good on a level. And the feeling it excites in the mind is expressed in the parable by the words of the text : " These many years do I serve Thee, neither transgressed I at any time Thy commandment," yet I never have been welcomed and honoured with that peculiar joy which Thou showest towards the repentant 1 Ps. i. 6 ; xi. 7 ; xviii. 25-27 ; xxxii. 10 ; cxxv. 4. 2 Heb. xi. 6. io6 Contracted Views in Religion. sinner. This is the expression of an agitated mind, that fears lest it be cast back upon the wide world, to grope in the dark without a God to guide and encourage it in its course. The condescending answer of the Father in the parable is most instructive. It sanctions the great truth, which seemed in jeopardy, that it is not the same thing in the end to obey or disobey, expressly telling us that the Christian penitent is not placed on a footing with those who have consistently served God from the first. " Son, thou art ever with Me, and all that I have is thine :" that is, why this sudden fear and distrust ? can there be any misconception on thy part because I welcome thy brother? dost thou not yet understand Me ? Surely thou hast known Me too long to suppose that thou canst lose by his gain. Thou art in My con- fidence. I do not make any outward display of kindness towards thee, for it is a thing to be taken for granted We give praise and make professions to strangers, not to friends. Thou art My heir, all that I have is thine. "0 thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?" Who could have thought that it were needful to tell to thee truths which thou hast heard all thy life long? Thou art ever with Me ; and canst thou really grudge that I should, by one mere act of rejoicing, show My satisfaction at the sinner's recovery, and should console him with a promise of mercy, who, before he heard of it, was sinking down under the dread of deserved punishment ? " It was meet that we should make merry and be glad," thou as well as thy Father. — Such is our merciful God's answer to His sr.spicious servants, who Contracted Views in Religion. 107 think He cannot pardon the sinner without withdraw- ing His favour from them ; and it contains in it both a consolation for the perplexed believer not to distrust Him ; and again, a warning to the disobedient, not to suppose that repentance makes all straight and even, and puts a man in the same place as if he had never departed from grace given. But let us now notice the unworthy feeling which appears in the conduct of the elder brother. " He was angry, and would not go " into the house. How may this be fulfilled in our own case ? There exists a great deal of infirmity and foolishness even in the better sort of men. This is not to be wondered at, considering the original corrupt state of their nature, however it is to be deplored, repented of, and corrected. Good men are, like Elijah, "jealous for the Lord God of hosts," and rightly solicitous to see His tokens around them, the pledges of His unchangeable just government ; but then they mix with such good feelings undue notions of self-importance, of which they are not aware. This seemingly was the state of mind which dictated the complaint of the elder brother. This will especially happen in the case of those who are in the most favoured situations in the Church. All places possess their peculiar temptation. Quietness and peace, those greatest of blessings, constitute the trial of the Christians who enjoy them. To be cast on the world, and -to see life (as it is called) is a vanity, and tt drowns " the unstable " in destruction and perdition ; " but while, on the one hand, a religious man may thrive io8 Contracted Views in Religion. even in the world's pestilent air and on unwholesome food, so, on the other hand, he may become sickly, unless he guards against it, from the very abundance of privi- leges vouchsafed to him in a peaceful lot. The elder brother had always lived at home ; he had seen things go on one way, and, as was natural and right, got attached to them in that one way. But then he could not conceive that they possibly could go on in any other way ; he thought he understood his Father's ways and principles far more than he did, and when an occurrence took place, for which he had hitherto met with no precedent, he lost himself, as being suddenly thrust aside out of the contracted circle in which he had hitherto walked. He was disconcerted, and angry with his Father. And so in religion, we have need to watch against that narrowness of mind, to which we are tempted by the uniformity and tranquillity of God's providence towards us. We should be on our guard lest we suppose ourselves to have such a clear knowledge of God's ways, as to rely implicitly on our own notions and feelings. Men attach an undue importance to this or that point in received opinions or practices, and cannot understand how God's blessing can be given to modes of acting to which they themselves are unaccustomed. Thus the Jews thought religion would come to an end, if the Temple were destroyed, whereas, in fact, it has spread abroad and nourished more marvellously since than ever it did before. In this perplexity of mind the Church Catholic is our divinely intended guide, which keeps us from a narrow interpretation of Scripture, from local prejudices and excitements of the day ; and Contracted Views in Religion. 109 by its clear-sighted and consolatory teaching scatters those frightful self-formed visions which scare us. But I have not described the extreme state of the infirmity into which the blessing of peace leads unwary Christians. They become not only over-confident of their knowledge of God's ways, but positive in their over-confidence. They do not like to be con- tradicted in their opinions, and are generally most attached to the very points which are most especially of their own devising. They forget that all men are at best but learners in the school of Divine Truth, and that they themselves ought to be ever learning, and that they may be sure of the truth of their creed, without a like assurance in the details of religious opinion. They find it a much more comfortable view, much more agreeable to the indolence of human nature, to give over seeking, and to believe they had nothing more to find. A right faith is ever eager and on the watch, with quick eyes and ears, for tokens of God's will, whether He speak in the way of nature or of grace. "I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what He will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved."1 This is that faith by which (as the Prophet continues) "the just shall live." The Psalmist also expresses this expectant temper. " Unto Thee lift I up mine eyes, 0 Thou that dwellest in the heavens. Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes 01 a maiden unto the hand of her mistress."2 But as for those who have long had God's favour without cloud or 1 Heb. ii. 1. 2 ps. cxxiiit 1} 2. no Contracted Views in Religion. storm, so it is, they grow secure. They do not feel the great gift. They are apt to presume, and so to become irreverent. The elder brother was too familiar with his Father. Irreverence is the very opposite temper to faith. " Son, thou art ever with Me, and all that I have is thine." This most gracious truth was the very cause of his murmuring. When Christians have but a little, they are thankful ; they gladly pick up the crumbs from under the table. Give them much, they soon forget it is much ; and when they find it is not all, and that for other men, too, even for penitents, God has some good in store, straightway they are offended. Without denying in words their own natural unworthi- ness, and still having real convictions of it to a certain point, nevertheless, somehow, they have a certain secret over-regard for themselves ; at least they act as if they thought that the Christian privileges belonged to them over others, by a sort of fitness. And they like respect to be shown them by the world, and are jealous of any- thing which is likely to interfere with the continuance of their credit and authority. Perhaps, too, they have pledged themselves to certain received opinions, and this is an additional reason for their being suspicious of what to them is a novelty. Hence such persons are least fitted to deal with difficult times. God works wondrously in the world ; and at certain eras His pro- vidence puts on a new aspect. Eeligion seems to be failing, when it is merely changing its form. God seems for an instant to desert His own appointed instruments, and to be putting honour upon such as have been framed in express disobedience to His commands. For Contracted Views in Religion. in instance, sometimes He brings about good by means of wicked men, or seems to bless the efforts of those who have separated from His Holy Church more than those of His true labourers. Here is the trial of the Chris- tian's faith, who, if the fact is so, must not resist it, lest haply he be found fighting against God, nor must he quarrel with it after the manner of the elder brother. But he must take everything as God's gift, hold fast his principles, not give them up because appearances are for the moment against them, but believe all things will come round at length. On the other hand, he must not cease to beg of God, and try to gain, the spirit of a sound mind, the power to separate truth from falsehood, and to try the spirits, the disposition to submit to God's teaching, and the wisdom to act as the varied course of affairs requires ; in a word, a portion of that spirit which rested on the great Apostle, St. Paul I have thought it right to enlarge upon the conduct of the elder brother in the parable, because something of his character may perchance be found among our- selves. We have long had the inestimable blessings of peace and quiet. We are unworthy of the least of God's mercies, much more of the greatest. But with the blessing we have the trial. Let us then guard against abusing our happy lot, while we have it, or we may lose it for having abused it. Let us guard against dis- content in any shape ; and as we cannot help hearing what goes on in the world, let us guard, on hearing it, against all intemperate, uncharitable feelings towards those who differ from us, or oppose us. Let us pray for our enemies ; let us try to make out men to be as good H2 Contracted Views in Religion. as they can fairly and safely be considered ; let us re- joice at any symptoms of repentance, or any marks of good principle in those who are on the side of error. Let us be forgiving. Let us try to be very humble, to understand our ignorance, and to rely constantly on the enlightening grace of our Great Teacher. Let us be " slow to speak, slow to wrath ;" — not abandoning our principles, or shrinking from the avowal of them when seasonable, or going over to the cause of error, or fearing consequences, but acting ever from a sense of duty, not from passion, pride, jealousy, or an unbelieving dread of the future ; feeling gently, even when we have reason to act severely. " Son, thou art ever with Me, and all that I have is thine." What a gracious announcement, if we could realize it ! and how consolatory, so far as we have reason to hope that we are following on to know God's will, and living in His faith and fear ! What should alarm those who have Christ's power, or make them envious who have Christ's fulness ? How ought we calmly to regard, and resolutely endure, the petty workings of an evil world, thinking seriously of nothing but of the souls that are perishing in it ! "I, even I, am He that comforteth you," says Al mighty God: "who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass ; and forgettest the Lord thy Maker ; and hast feared continually every day be- cause of the fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy ? And where is the fury of the oppressor ? I am the Lord thy God : and I have put My words in Contracted Views in Religion. 113 thy mouth, and have covered thee in the shadow of Mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art My people." 1 1 Isa, li, 12, 13, 15, 16. SEEMON IX. .• A PARTICULAR PROVIDENCE AS REVEALED IK THE GOSPEL. GEN. xvi. 13. " Thou God seest me." TTTHEN" Hagar fled into the wilderness from the face of her mistress, she was visited by an Angel, who sent her back; but, together, with this implied reproof of her impatience, he gave her a word of pro- mise to encourage and console her. In the mixture of humbling and cheerful thoughts *thus wrought in her, she recognized the presence of her Maker and Lord, who ever comes to His servants in a two-fold aspect, severe because He is holy, yet soothing as abounding in mercy. In consequence, she called the name of the Lord that spake unto her, " Thou God seest me." Such was the condition of man before Christ came, favoured with some occasional notices of God's regard for individuals, but, for the most part, instructed merely in His general Providence, as seen in the course of human affairs. In this respect even the Law was deficient, though it abounded in proofs that God was A Particitlar Providence. 115 a living, all-seeing, all recompensing God. It was defi- cient, in comparison of the Gospel, in evidence of the really-existing relation between each soul of man and its Maker, independently of everything else in the world. Of Moses, indeed, it is said, that "the Lord spake unto him face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend." * But this was an especial privilege vouch- safed to him only and some others, as to Hagar, who records it in the text, not to all the people. But, under the New Covenant, this distinct regard, vouchsafed by Almighty God to every one of us, is clearly revealed. It was foretold of the Christian Church; "All thy children shall be taught of the Lord ; and great shall be the peace of thy children." 2 When the Eternal Son came on earth in our flesh, men saw their invisible Maker and Judge. He showed Himself no longer through the mere powers of nature, or the maze of human affairs, but in our own likeness to Him. " God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the know- ledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ;"3 that is, in a sensible form, as a really existing indivi- dual being. And, at the same time, He forthwith began to speak to us as individuals. He, on the one hand, addressed each of us on the other. Thus it was in some sense a revelation face to face. This is the subject on which I propose now to make a few remarks. And first, let me observe, it is very difficult, in spite of the revelation made us in the Gospel, to master the idea of this particular providence 1 Exod. xxxiii. 11. 2 Isa. liv. 13. 3 2 Cor. iv. 6. n6 A Particular Providence of God. If we allow ourselves to float down the current of the world, living as other men, gathering up our notions of religion here and there, as it may be, we have little or no true comprehension of a particular Providence. We conceive that Almighty God works on a large plan ; but we cannot realize the wonderful truth that He sees and thinks of individuals. We cannot believe He is really present everywhere, that He is wherever we are, though unseen. For instance, we can understand, or think we understand, that He was present on Mount Sinai, or within the Jewish Temple, or that He clave the ground under Dathan and Abiram. But we do not in any sufficient sense believe that He is in like manner " about our path, and about our bed, and spieth out all our ways."1 We cannot bring our- selves to get fast hold of the solemn fact, that He sees what is going on among ourselves at this moment ; that this man falls and that man is exalted, at His silent, invisible appointment. We use, indeed, the prayers of the Church, and intercede, not only for all conditions of men, but for the King and the Nobility, and the Court of Parliament, and so on, down to individual sick people in our own parish ; yet in spite of all this, we do not bring home to our minds the truth of His omniscience. We know He is in heaven, and forget that He is also on earth. This is the reason why the multitude of men are so profane. They use light words; they scoff at religion; they allow themselves to be lukewarm and indifferent; they take the part of wicked men; they push, forward wicked measures; they defend injustice, 1 Ps. cxxxix. 2. as Revealed in the Gospel 117 or cruelty, or sacrilege, or infidelity ; because they have no grasp of a truth, which nevertheless they have no intention to deny, that God sees them. There is, indeed, a self-will, and self-deceit, which would sin on even in God's visible presence. This was the sin of Balaam, who took part with the enemies of Israel for reward ; and of Zimri, the son of Salu, a prince of the Simeonites, on whom Phineas did judgment ; and such the sin of Saul, of Judas, of Ananias and Sapphira. Alas ! doubtless such is the sin of many a man now in England, unless human nature is other than it was aforetime ; alas ! such a sin is in a measure our own from time to time, as any one may know for certain who is used to self-examination. Yet, over and above this, certainly there is also a great deal of profane sinning from our forgetting, not comprehending that we are in God's presence; not comprehending, or (in other words) believing, that He sees and hears and notes down everything we do. This, again, is often the state in which persons find themselves on falling into trouble. The world fails them, and they despair, because they do not realize to themselves the loving-kindness and the presence of God. They find no comfort in a truth which to them is not a substance but an opinion. Therefore it was that Hagar, when visited in the wilderness by the Angel, called the name of the Lord that spake unto her, " Thou God seest me ! " It came as a new truth to her that, amid her trouble and her waywardness, the eye of God was upon her. The case is the same now. Men talk in a general way of the goodness of God, His benevo- n8 A Particular Providence lence, compassion, and long-suffering ; but they think of it as of a flood pouring itself out all through the world, as the light of the sun, not as the continually repeated action of an intelligent and living Mind, contemplating whom it visits and intending what it effects. Accord- ingly, when they come into trouble, they can but say, " It is all for the best — God is good," and the like ; and this does but fall as cold comfort upon them, and does not lessen their sorrow, because they have not accustomed their minds to feel that He is a merciful God, regarding them individually, and not a mere universal Providence acting by general laws. And then, perhaps, all of a sudden the true notion breaks on them, as it did upon Hagar. Some especial Providence, amid their infliction, runs right into their heart, and brings it close home to them, in a way they never experienced before, that God sees them, And then, surprised at this, which is a some- thing quite new to them, they go into the other ex- treme, in proportion to their former apathy, and are led to think that they are especial objects of God's love, more than all other men. Instead of taking what has happened to them as an evidence of His particular Providence over all, as revealed in Scripture, they still will not believe a jot or tittle more than they see ; and, while discovering He loves them individually, they do not advance one step, on that account, to the general truth, that He loves other men individually also. Now, had they been all along in the practice of studying Scrip- ture, they would have been saved from both errors — • their first, which was blindness to a particular Providence altogether — their second, which was a narrow-minded as Revealed in the Gospel. 119 limiting of it to themselves, as if the world at large were rejected and reprobate; for Scripture represents this privilege as the portion of all men one by one. I suppose it is scarcely necessary to prove to those who have allowed their minds to dwell on the Gospels, that the peculiar character of our Lord's goodness, as displayed therein, is its tenderness and its considerate- ness. These qualities are the very perfection of kind- ness between man and man ; but, from the very extent and complication of the world's system, and from its Maker's being invisible, our imagination scarcely suc- ceeds in attributing them to Him, even when our reason is convinced, and we wish to believe accordingly. His Providence manifests itself in general laws, it moves forward upon the lines of truth and justice ; it has no respect of persons, rewarding the good and punishing the bad, not as individuals, but according to their character. How shall He who is Most Holy direct His love to this man or that for the sake of each, contem- plating us one by one, without infringing on His own perfections ? Or even were the Supreme Being a God of unmixed benevolence, how, even then, shall the thought of Him come home to our minds with that constraining power which the kindness of a human friend exerts over us ? The greatest acknowledgment we can make of the kindness of a superior, is to say that he acts as if he were personally interested in us. The mass of bene- volent men are kind and generous, because it is their way to be so, irrespectively of the person whom they benefit. Natural temper, a flow of spirits, or a turn of good fortune, opens the heart, which pours itself out I2O A Particular Providence profusely on friend and enemy. They scatter benefits as they move along. Now, at first sight, it is difficult to see how our idea of Almighty God can be divested of these earthly notions, either that His goodness is imperfect, or that it is fated and necessary ; and wonderful indeed, and adorable is the condescension by which He has met our infirmity. He has met and aided it in that same Dispensation by which He redeemed our souls. In order that we may understand that in spite of His mysterious perfections He has a separate knowledge and regard for individuals, He has taken upon Him the thoughts and feelings of our own nature, which we all understand is capable of such personal attachments. By becoming man, He has cut short the perplexities and the discussions of our reason on the subject, as if He would grant our objections for argument's sake, and supersede them by taking our own ground. The most winning property of our Saviour's mercj (if it is right so to speak of it), is its dependence OD time and place, person and circumstance ; in other words, its tender discrimination. It regards and con- sults for each individual as he comes before it. It is called forth by some as it is not by others, it cannot (if I may say so) manifest itself to every object alike ; it has its particular shade and mode of feeling for each ; and on some men it so bestows itself, as if He depended for His own happiness on their well-being. This might be illustrated, as is often done, by our Lord's tender behaviour towards Lazarus and his sisters, or His tears over Jerusalem ; or by His conduct towards St. Peter, as Revealed in the Gospel. 121 before and after his denial of Him, or towards St. Thomas when he doubted, or by His love of His mother, or of St. John. But I will direct your attention rather to His treatment of the traitor Judas ; both because it is not so commonly referred to, and, also, because if there was a being in the whole world whom one might suppose to be cast out of His presence as hateful and reprobate, it was he who He foresaw would betray Him. Yet we shall find that even this wretched man was followed and encompassed by His serene though grave regard till the very hour he betrayed Him. Judas was in darkness and hated the light, and " went to his own place ; " yet he found it, not by the mere force of certain natural principles working out their inevitable results — by some unfeeling fate, which sentences the wicked to hell — but by a Judge who surveys him from head to foot, who searches him through and through, to see if there is any ray of hope, any latent spark of faith ; who pleads with him again and again, and, at length abandoning him, mourns over him the while with the wounded affection of a friend rather than the severity of the Judge of the whole earth. Tor instance, first a startling warning a year before his trial. " Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil ? " Then, when the time was come, the lowest act of abasement towards one who was soon to betray Him, and to suffer the unquenchable fire. " He riseth from supper, and .... poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples' feet,"1 and Judas in the number. Then a second 1 John vi. 70 ; xiii. 4, 5. 122 A Particular Providence warning at the same time, or rather a sorrowful lament spoken as if to Himself, " Ye are not all clean." Then openly, " Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray Me." "The Son of man goeth as it is written of Him ; but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed ! it had been good for that man if he had not been born. Then Judas, which betrayed Him, answered and said, Master, is it I ? He said unto him, Thou hast said it." Lastly, when He was actually betrayed by him, " Friend, wherefore art thou come ? " " Judas " (He addresses him by name), " betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss ? "x I am not attempting to reconcile His divine foreknowledge with this special and prolonged anxiety, this personal feeling towards Judas ; but wish you only to dwell upon the latter, in order to observe what is given us by the revelation of Almighty God in the Gospels, viz., an acquaintance with His providential regard for individuals, making His sun to rise on the evil as well as on the good. And, in like manner doubtless, at the last day, the wicked and impenitent shall be condemned, not in a mass, but one by one — one by one, appearing each in his own turn before the righteous Judge, standing under the full glory of • His countenance, carefully weighed in the balance and found wanting, dealt with, not indeed with a weak and wavering purpose, where God's justice claims satisfaction, yet, at the same time, with all the circumstantial solicitude and awful care of one who would fain make, if He could, the fruit of His passion more numerous than it is. 1 Matt. xxvi. 24, 25, 50 ; Luke xxii. 48. as Revealed in the Gospel. 123 This solemn reflection may be further enforced by considering our Lord's behaviour towards strangers who came to Him. Judas was His friend ; but we, have never seen Him. How will He look, and how does He look upon us ? Let His manner in the Gospels towards the multitude of men assure us. All-holy, Almighty as He is, and has shown Himself to be, yet in the midst of His Divine Majesty, He could display a tender interest in all who approached Him ; as if He could not cast His eyes on any of His creatures without the over- flowing affection of a parent for his child, regarding it with a full satisfaction, and simply desiring its hap- piness and highest good. Thus, when the rich young man came to him, it is said, " And Jesus beholding him, loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest." When the Pharisees asked a sign, " He sighed deeply in His Spirit." At another time, " He looked round about on them" — as if on every one, to see if here or there perchance there might be an exception to the general unbelief, and to condemn, one by one, those who were guilty1 — " He looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts." Again, when a leper came to Him, He did not simply heal him, but, "moved with compassion, He put forth His hand."2 How gracious is this revelation of God's particular providence to those who seek Him! how gracious to those who have discovered that this world is but vanity, and who are solitary and isolated in themselves, what- 1 Mark x. 21 ; viii. 12 ; iii. 5. 2 Vide also Matt. xix. 26 ; Luke xxii. 61 ; Mark iii. 34 ; i. 41. 124 A Particular Providence ever shadows of power and happiness surround them ! The multitude, indeed, go on without these thoughts, either from insensibility, as not understanding their own wants, or changing from one idol to another, as each successively fails. But men of keener hearts would be overpowered by despondency, and would even loathe existence, did they suppose themselves under the mere operation of fixed laws, powerless to excite the pity or the attention of Him who has appointed them. What should they do especially, who are cast among per- sons unable to enter into their feelings, and thus strangers to them, though by long custom ever so much friends ! or who have perplexities of mind they cannot explain to themselves, much less remove, and no one to help them; or who have affections and aspirations pent up within them, because they have not met with objects to which to devote them; or who are misunderstood by those around them, and find they have no words to set themselves right with them, or no principles in common by way of appeal ; or who seem to themselves to be without place or purpose in the world, or to be in the way of others ; or who have to follow their own sense of duty without advisers or supporters, nay, to resist the wishes and solicitations of superiors or rela- tives ; or who have the burden of some painful secret, or of some incommunicable solitary grief ! In all such cases the Gospel narrative supplies our very need, not simply presenting to us an unchangeable Creator to rely upon, but a compassionate Guardian, a discrimi- nating Judge and Helper. God beholds thee individually, whoever thou art. as Revealed in the Gospel. 125 He "calls thee "by thy name." He sees thee, and understands thee, as He made thee. He knows what is in thee, all thy own peculiar feelings and thoughts, thy dispositions and likings, thy strength and thy weakness. He views thee in thy day of rejoicing, and thy day of sorrow. He sympathizes in thy hopes and thy temptations. He interests Himself in all thy anxieties and remembrances, all the risings and fallings of thy spirit. He has num- bered the very hairs of thy head and the cubits of thy stature. He compasses thee round and bears thee in His arms ; He takes thee up and sets thee down. He notes thy very countenance, whether smiling or in tears, whether healthful or sickly. He looks tenderly upon thy hands and thy feet ; He hears thy voice, the beating of thy heart, and thy very breathing. Thou dost not love thyself better than He loves thee. Thou canst not shrink from pain more than He dislikes thy bearing it ; and if He puts it on thee, it is as thou wilt put it on thyself, if thou art wise, for a greater good afterwards. Thou art not only His creature (though for the very sparrows He has a care, and pitied the "much cattle" of Nineveh), thou art man redeemed and sanctified, His adopted son, favoured with a portion of that glory and blessedness which flows from Him everlastingly unto the Only-begotten. Thou art chosen to be His, even above thy fellows who dwell in the East and South. Thou wast one of those for whom Christ offered up His last prayer, and sealed it with His precious blood. What a thought is this, a thought almost too great for our faith ! Scarce can we refrain from acting Sarah's 126 A Particular Providence part, when we bring it before us, so as to " laugh" from amazement and perplexity. What is man, what are we, what am I, that the Son of God should be so mindful of me? What am I, that He should have raised me from almost a devil's nature to that of an Angel's ? that He should have changed my soul's original constitution, new-made me, who from my youth up have been a transgressor, and should Himself dwell personally in this very heart of mine, making me His temple ? What am I, that God the Holy Ghost should enter into me, and draw up my thoughts heavenward "with plaints unutterable?" These are the meditations which come upon the Christian to console him, while he is with Christ upon the holy mount. And, when he descends to his daily duties, they are still his inward strength, though he is not allowed to tell the vision to those around him. They make his countenance to shine, make him cheerful, collected, serene, and firm in the midst of all temptation, persecution, or bereavement. And with such thoughts before us, how base and miserable does the world appear in all its pursuits and doctrines ! How truly miserable does it seem to seek good from the creature ; to covet station, wealth, or credit; to choose for ourselves, in fancy, this or that mode of life ; to affect the manners and fashions of the great ; to spend our time in follies ; to be discontented, quarrelsome, jealous or envious, cen- sorious or resentful ; fond of unprofitable talk, and eager for the news of the day; busy about public matters which concern us not ; hot in the cause of this or that interest or party; or set upon gain; or devoted to the as Revealed in the Gospel. 127 increase of barren knowledge ! And at the end of our days, when flesh and heart fail, what will be our con- solation, though we have made ourselves rich, or have served an office, or been the first man among our equals, or have depressed a rival, or managed things our own way, or have settled splendidly, or have been intimate with the great, or have fared sumptuously, or have gained a name ! Say, even if we obtain that which lasts longest, a place in history, yet, after all, what ashes shall we have eaten for bread ! And, in that awful hour, when death is in sight, will He, whose eye is now so loving towards us, and whose hand falls on us so gently, will He acknowledge us any more ? or, if He still speaks, will His voice have any power to stir us ? rather will it not repel us, as it did Judas, by the very tenderness with which it would invite us to Him ? Let us then endeavour, by His grace, rightly to understand where we stand, and what He is towards us; most tender and pitiful, yet, for all His pity, not passing by the breadth of a single hair the eternal lines of truth, holiness, and justice; He who can condemn to the woe everlasting, though He weeps and laments beforehand, and who, when once the sentence of con- demnation has gone forth, will wipe out altogether the remembrance of us, "and know us not." The tares were " bound in bundles" for the burning, indiscrimi- nately, promiscuously, contemptuously. " Let us then fear, lest a promise being left us of entering into His rest, any of us should seem to come short of it." SERMON X. TEARS OF CHRIST AT THE GRAVE OF LAZARUS. JOHN xi. 34-36. "Jesus said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto Sim, Lord, come and see. Jesus wept. Then said the Jews, Behold how He loved Him I " first reading these words the question naturally arises in the mind — why did our Lord weep at the grave of Lazarus ? He knew He had power to raise him, why should He act the part of those who sorrow for the dead? In attempting any answer to this in- quiry, we should ever remember that the thoughts of our Saviour's mind are far beyond our comprehension. Hardly do we enter into the feelings and meaning of men like ourselves, who are gifted with any special talent; even human philosophers or poets are obscure from the depth of their conceptions. What then must be the marvellous abyss of love and understanding in Him who, though partaker of our nature, is the Son of God? This, indeed, is evident, as a matter of fact, on the face of the Scripture record, as any one may see who will take the trouble to inspect it. It is not, for Tears of Christ. 129 instance, the text alone which raises a question; but the whole narrative, in which it occurs, exhibits our Saviour's conduct in various lights, which it is difficult for weak creatures, such as we are, properly to blend together. When He first received the news of Lazarus's ill- ness, " He abode two days still in the same place where He was." Then telling His disciples that Lazarus was dead, He said He was " glad for their sake that He was not there ; " and said that He would " go and awaken him out of sleep." Then, when He was come to Bethany, where Lazarus dwelt, He was so moved by the sorrow of the Jews, that " He groaned in the spirit and was troubled." Lastly, in spite of His perturba- tion and weeping, presently He raised Lazarus. I say, it is remarkable that such difficulties as these should lie on the face of Scripture, quite independently of those arising from the comparison of the texts in question with the doctrine of His divine nature. We know, indeed, there are insuperable mysteries involved in the union of His divine with His human attributes, which seem incompatible with each other ; for instance, how He should be ever-blessed, and yet weep — all- knowing, yet apparently ignorant ; but, without entering into the consideration of the mysteries of faith, com- monly so called, it is worth inquiring whether the very surface of the sacred history does not contain seeming inconsistencies, of a nature to prepare us for such other difficulties as may lie from a deeper comparison of history with doctrine. As another instance of the discrepancy I speak of, [in] I 130 Tears of Christ consider our Saviour's words according to the received versions, " Sleep on now, and take your rest ; " and immediately after, "Kise, let us be going."1 So again, " He that hath no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one;" then follows, "Lord, behold, here are two swords. And He said, It is enough;" lastly, when Peter used his sword, " Put up again thy sword into his place : for all they that take the sword' shall perish with the sword."2 I am not saying that we cannot possibly remove any part of the seeming opposition between such passages, but only that on the whole there is quite enough in the narrative to show that He who speaks is not one whose thoughts it is easy to get possession of ; that it is no light matter to put one's-self, even in part, into the position of His mind, and to state under what feelings and motives He said this or that ; in a word, I wish to impress upon you, that our Saviour's words are not of a nature to be heard once and no more, but that to understand them we must feed upon them, and live in them, as if by little and little growing into their meaning. It would be well if we understood the necessity of this more than we do. It is very much the fashion at present to regard the Saviour of the world in an irre- verent and unreal way — as a mere idea or vision; to speak of Him so narrowly and unfruitfully, as if we only knew of His name ; though Scripture has set Kim before us in His actual sojourn on earth, in His gestures, words, and deeds, in order that we may have that on 1 Matt. xxvi. 45, 46. 2 Luke xxii. 36, 38 ; Matt. xxvi. 52. at the Grave of Lazariis. 131 which to fix our eyes. And till we learn to do this, to leave off vague statements about His love, His willing- ness to receive the sinner, His imparting repentance and spiritual aid, and the like, and view Him in His particular and actual works, set before us in Scripture, surely we have not derived from the Gospels that very benefit which they are intended to convey. Nay, we are in some danger, perhaps, even as regards our faith ; for, it is to be feared, while the thought of Christ is but a creation of our minds, it may gradually be changed or fade away, it may become defective or perverted; whereas, when we contemplate Christ as manifested in the Gospels, the Christ who exists therein, external to our own imaginings, and who is as really a living being, and sojourned on earth as truly as any of us, then we shall at length believe in Him with a conviction, a confidence, and an entireness, which can no more be annihilated than the belief in our senses. It is impos- sible for a Christian mind to meditate on the Gospels, without feeling, beyond all manner of doubt, that He who is the subject of them is God ; but it is very pos- sible to speak in a vague way of His love towards us, and to use the name of Christ, yet not at all to realize that He is the Living Son of the Father, or to have any anchor for our faith within us, so as to be fortified against the risk of future defection. I will say a few words then under this impression, and with the reverent thoughts before me with which I began, by way of comment on our Saviour's weeping at Lazarus's grave ; or, rather, I will suggest what each of you may, please God, improve for himself. 132 Tears of Christ What led our Lord to weep over the dead, who could at a word restore him, nay, had it in purpose so to do ? 1. First of all, as the context informs us, He wept from very sympathy with the grief of others. " When Jesus saw Mary weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, He groaned in the spirit, and was troubled." It is the very nature of compassion or sympathy, as the word implies, to "rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep." We know it is so with men ; and God tells us He also is compassionate, and full of tender mercy. Yet we do not well know what this means, for how can God rejoice or grieve ? By the very perfection of His nature Almighty God cannot show sympathy, at least to the comprehension of beings of such limited minds as ours. He, indeed, is hid from us ; but if we were allowed to see Him, how could we discern in the Eternal and Unchangeable signs of sympathy ? Words and works of sympathy He does display to us; but it is the very sight of sympathy in another that affects and comforts the sufferer more even than the fruits of it. Now we cannot see God's sympathy; and the Son of God, though feeling for us as great compas- sion as His Father, did not show it to us while He remained in His Father's bosom. But when He took flesh and appeared on earth, He showed us the God- head in a new manifestation. He invested Himself with a new set of attributes, those of our flesh, taking into Him a human soul and body, in order that thoughts, feelings, affections might be His, which could respond to ours and certify to us His tender mercy. When, at the Grave of Lazarus. 133 then, our Saviour weeps from sympathy at Mary's tears, let us not say it is the love of a man overcome by natural feeling. It is the love of God, the "bowels of compassion of the Almighty and Eternal, condescend- ing to show it as we are capable of receiving it, in the form of human nature. Jesus wept, therefore, not merely from the deep thoughts of His understanding, but from spontaneous tenderness ; from the gentleness and mercy, the encom- passing loving-kindness and exuberant fostering affection of the Son of God for His own work, the race of man. Their tears touched Him at once, as their miseries had brought Him down from heaven. His ear was open to them, and the sound of weeping went at once to His heart. 2. But next, we may suppose (if it is allowable to conjecture), that His pity, thus spontaneously excited, was led forward to dwell on the various circumstances in man's condition which excite pity. It was awakened, and began to look around upon the miseries of the world. What was it He saw ? He saw visibly dis- played the victory of death; a mourning multitude — everything present which might waken sorrow except him who was the chief object of it. He was not — a stone marked the place where he lay. Martha and Mary, whom He had known and loved in their brother's company, now solitary, approached Him, first one and then the other, in far other mood and circumstance than heretofore— in deep affliction! in faith indeed and resignation, yet, apparently, with somewhat of a tender complaint : " Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother 134 Tears of Christ had not died." Such has been the judgment passed, or the doubt raised, concerning Him, in the breast of the creature in every age. Men have seen sin and misery around them, and, whether in faith or unbelief, have said, " If Thou hadst been here," if Thou hadst inter- fered, it might have been otherwise. Here, then, was the Creator surrounded by the works of His hands, who adored Him indeed, yet seemed to ask why He suffered what He Himself had made so to be marred. Here was the Creator of the world at a scene of death, seeing the issue of His gracious handiwork. Would not He revert in thought to the hour of creation, when He went forth from the bosom of the Father to bring all things into existence ? There had been a day when He had looked upon the work of His love, and seen that it was " very good." Whence had the good been turned to evil, the fine gold become dim ? " An enemy had done this." Why it was allowed, and how achieved, was a secret with Him ; a secret from all who were about Him, as it is a secret to us at this day. Here He had incommunicable thoughts with His Eternal Father. He would not tell them why it was ; He chose another course for taking away their doubts and com- plaints. " He opened not His mouth," but He wrought wondrously. What He has done for all believers, revealing His atoning death yet not explaining it, this He did for Martha and Mary also, proceeding to the grave in silence, to raise their brother, while they com- plained that he had been allowed to die. Here then, I say, were abundant sources for His grief (if we may be permitted to trace them), in the at the Grave cf Lazarus. 135 contrast between Adam, in the day in which he was created, innocent and immortal, and man as the devil had made him, full of the poison of sin and the breath of the grave ; and again, in the timid complaint of His sorrowing friends that that change had been permitted. And though He was about to turn back the scene of sorrow into joy again, yet, after all, Lazarus one day must die again — He was but delaying the fulfilment of His own decree. A stone lay upon him now ; and, though he was raised from the grave, yet, by His own inscrutable law, one day he must lie down again in it. It was a respite, not a resurrection. 3. Here I have suggested another thought which admits of being dwelt upon. Christ was come to do a deed of mercy, and it was a secret in His own breast. All the love which He felt for Lazarus was a secret from others. He was conscious to Himself He loved him ; but none could tell but He how earnest that affection was. Peter, when his love for Christ was doubted, found a relief in an appeal to Himself : " Lord, Thou knowest all things : Thou knowest that I love Thee."1 But Christ had no earthly friend who could be His confidant in this matter ; and, as His thoughts turned on Lazarus, and His heart yearned towards him, was He not in Joseph's case, who not in grief, but from the very fulness of his soul, and his desolateness in a heathen land, when his brethren stood before him, c; sought where to weep," as if his own tears were his best companions, and had in them a sympathy to soothe that pain which none could share ? Was He not in the 1 John xxi. 17. 136 Tears of Christ case of a parent hanging over an infant, and weeping upon it, from the very thought of its helplessness and insensibility to the love poured out upon it ? But the parent weeps from the feeling of her weakness to defend it ; knowing that what is now a child must grow up and take its own course, and (whether for earthly or heavenly good) must depend, not on her, but on the Creator and on itself. Christ's was a different contem- • plation ; yet attended with its own peculiar emotion. I mean the feeling that He had power to raise up Lazarus. Joseph wept, as having a secret, not only of the past, but of the future ; — of good in store as well as of evil done — of good which it was in his own power to confer. And our Lord and Saviour knew that, while all seemed so dreary and hopeless, in spite of the tears and laments of his friends, in spite of the corpse four days old, of the grave and the stone which was upon it, He had a spell which could overcome death, and He was about to use it. Is there any time more affecting than when you are about to break good news to a friend who has been stricken down by tidings of ill ? 4. Alas ! there were other thoughts still to call forth His tears. This marvellous benefit to the forlorn sisters, how was it to be attained ? at His own cost. Joseph knew he could bring joy to his brethren, but at no sacrifice of his own. Christ was bringing life to the dead by His own death. His disciples would have dis- suaded Him from going into Judea, lest the Jews should kill Him. Their apprehension was fulfilled. He went to raise Lazarus, and the fame of that miracle was the immediate cause of His seizure and crucifixion. This at the Grave of Lazarus. 137 He knew beforehand, He saw the prospect before Him ; He saw Lazarus raised ; the supper in Martha's house ; Lazarus sitting at table ; joy on all sides of Him ; Mary honouring her Lord on this festive occasion by the out- pouring of the very costly ointment upon His feet ; the Jews crowding not only to see Him, but Lazarus also ; His triumphant entry into Jerusalem; the multitude shouting Hosanna ; the people testifying to the raising of Lazarus ; the Greeks, who had come up to worship at the feast, earnest to see Him ; the children joining in the general joy ; and then the Pharisees plotting against Him, Judas betraying Him, His friends deserting Him, and the cross receiving Him. These things doubtless, among a multitude of thoughts unspeakable, passed over His mind. He felt that Lazarus was wakening to life at His own sacrifice ; that He was descending into the grave which Lazarus left. He felt that Lazarus was to live and He to die; the appearance of things was to be reversed ; the feast was to be kept in Martha's house, but the last passover of sorrow remained for Him. And He knew that this reverse was altogether voluntary with Him. He had come down from His Father's bosom to be an Atonement of blood for all sin, and thereby to raise all believers from the grave, as He was then about to raise Lazarus ; and to raise them, not for a time, but for eternity ; and now the sharp trial lay before Him, through which He was to " open the king- dom of heaven to all believers." Contemplating then the fulness of His purpose while now going about a single act of mercy, He said to Martha, "I am the Resurrection and the Life: he that believeth in Me, 138 Tears of Christ. though he were dead, yet shall he live, and whosoever liveth and believeth in Me, shall never die." Let us take to ourselves these comfortable thoughts, both in the contemplation of our own death, or upon the death of our friends. Wherever faith in Christ is, there is Christ Himself. He said to Martha, " Believest thou this ? " Wherever there is a heart to answer, " Lord, I believe," there Christ is present. There our Lord vouchsafes to stand, though unseen — whether over the bed of death or over the grave ; whether we our- selves are sinking or those who are dear to us. Blessed be His name ! nothing can rob us of this consolation : we will be as certain, through His grace, that He is standing over us in love, as though we saw Him. We will not, after our experience of Lazarus's history, doubt an instant that He is thoughtful about us. He knows the beginnings of our illness, though He keeps at a distance. He knows when to remain away and when to draw near. He notes down the advances of it, and the stages. He tells truly when His friend Lazarus is sick and when he sleeps. We all have experience of this in the narrative before us, and henceforth, so be it ! will never complain at the course of His providence. Only, we will beg of Him an increase ot faith ; — a more lively perception of the curse under which the world lies, and of our own personal demerits, a more under- standing view of the mystery of His Cross, a more devout and implicit reliance on the virtue of it, and a more confident persuasion that He will never put upon us more than we can bear, never afflict His brethren with any woe except for their own highest benefit. SEEMON XL BODILY SUFFERING. COLOSSIANS i. 24. " I jill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for His body's sake, which is the Church." Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ came by blood as well as by water, not only as a Fount of grace and truth — the source of spiritual light, joy, and salvation — but as a combatant with Sin and Satan, who was " con- secrated through suffering." He was, as prophecy had marked Him out, " red in His apparel, and His garments like Him that treadeth in the wine-fat;" or, in the words of the Apostle, " He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood." It was the untold sufferings of the Eternal Word in our nature, His body dislocated and torn, His blood poured out, His soul violently separated by a painful death, which has put away from us the wrath of Him whose love sent Him for that very purpose. This only was our Atonement ; no one shared in the work. He "trod the wine-press alone, and of the people there was none with Him." When lifted up upon the cursed tree, He fought with all the hosts of evil, and conquered by suffering. 140 Bodily Suffering. Thus, in a most mysterious way, all that is needful for this sinful world, the life of our souls, the regenera- tion of our nature, all that is most joyful and glorious, hope, light, peace, spiritual freedom, holy influences, religious knowledge and strength, all flow from a fount of blood. A work of blood is our salvation; and we, as we would be saved, must draw near and gaze upon it in faith, and accept it as the way to heaven. We must take Him, who thus suffered, as our guide; we must embrace His sacred feet, and follow Him. No wonder, then, should we receive on ourselves some drops of the sacred agony which bedewed His gar- ments ; no wonder, should we be sprinkled with the sorrows which He bore in expiation of our sins ! And so it has ever been in very deed ; to approach r Him has been, from the first, to be partaker, more or less, in His sufferings ; I do not say in the case of every individual who believes in Him, but as regards the more conspicuous, the more favoured, His choice instruments, and His most active servants ; that is, it has been the lot of the Church, on the whole, and of those, on the whole, who had been most like Him, as Eulers, Inter- cessors, and Teachers of the Church. He, indeed, alone meritoriously ; they, because they have been near Him. Thus, immediately upon His birth, He brought the sword upon the infants of His own age at Bethlehem. His very shadow, cast upon a city, where He did not abide, was stained with blood. His Blessed Mother had not clasped Him to her breast for many weeks, ere she was warned of the penalty of that fearful privilege : "Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul Bodily Suffering. 141 also."1 Virtue went out of Him ; but the water and the blood flowed together as afterwards from His pierced side. From among the infants He took up in His arms to bless, is said to have gone forth a chief martyr of the generation after Him. Most of His Apostles passed through life-long sufferings to a violent death. In par- ticular, when the favoured brothers, James and John, came to Him with a request that they might sit beside Him in His kingdom, He plainly stated this connection between nearness to Him and affliction. " Are ye able/7 He said, " to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?"2 As if He said, "Ye cannot have the sacra- ments of grace without the painful figures of them. The Cross, when imprinted on your foreheads, will draw blood. You shall receive, indeed, the baptism of the Spirit, and the cup of My communion, but it shall be with the attendant pledges of My cup of agony, and My baptism of blood" Elsewhere He speaks the same language to all who would partake the benefits of His death and passion : " Whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after Me, cannot be My disciple."3 Accordingly, His Apostles frequently remind us of this necessary, though mysterious appointment, and bid us " think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try us, as though some strange thing happened unto us, but to rejoice in having communion with the sufferings of Christ."4 St. Paul teaches us the same/ lesson in the text, in which he speaks of taking up the 1 Luke ii. 35. 2 Matt. xx. 22. 3 Luke xiv. 27. * 1 Pet. iv. 12, 13. 142 Bodily Siiffering. remnant of Christ's sorrows, as some precious mantle dropt from the Cross, and wearing it for His sake. " I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what remains of the afflictions of Christ for His body's sake, that is, the Church."1 And though he is speaking especially of persecution and other sufferings borne in the cause of the Gospel, yet it is our great privilege, as Scripture tells us, that all pain and trouble, borne in faith and patience, will be accounted as marks of Christ, grace-tokens from the absent Saviour, and will be accepted and rewarded for His sake at the last day. It declares generally, " When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee : when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the (flame kindle upon thee." " Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceed- ing and eternal weight of glory."2 /> Thus the Gospel, which has shed light in so many / ways upon the state of this world, has aided especially / our view of the sufferings to which human nature is ^ subjected ; turning a punishment into a privilege, in the case of ail pain, and especially of bodily pain, which is the most mysterious of all. Sorrow, anxiety, and dis- appointment are more or less connected with sin and sinners; but bodily pain is involuntary for the most part, stretching over the world by some external irresis- tible law, reaching to children who have never actually sinned, and to the brute animals, who are strangers to Adam's nature, while in its manifestations it is far more 1 Vide also 2 Cor iv. 10. 2 Isa. xliii. 2 ; 2 Cor. iv. 17. Bodily Suffering. 143 piteous and distressing than any other suffering. It is the lot of all of us, sooner or later; and that, perhaps in a measure which it would be appalling and wrong to anticipate, whether from disease, or from the casualties of life. And all of us at length must die ; and death is generally ushered in by disease, and ends in that sepa- ration of soul and body, which itself may, in some cases, involve peculiar pain. Worldly men put such thoughts aside as gloomy; they can neither deny nor avert the prospect before them ; and they are wise, on their own principles, not to embitter the present by anticipating it. But Chris- tians may bear to look at it without undue apprehen- sion; for this very infliction, which most touches the heart and imagination, has (as I have said) been invested by Almighty God with a a new and comfortable light, as being the medium of His choicest mercies towards us. Pain is no longer a curse, a necessary evil to be "L undergone with a dry submission or passive endurance — / — it may be considered even as a blessing of the Gospel, and being a blessing, admits of being met well or ill In the way of nature, indeed, it seems to shut out the notion of duty, as if so masterful a discipline from without superseded the necessity or opportunity of self-mastery ; but now that " Christ hath suffered in \ the flesh," we are bound "to arm ourselves with the r same mind," and to obey, as He did, amid suffering. J In what follows, I shall remark briefly, first, on the natural effect of pain upon the mind ; and next, upon the remedies and correctives of that effect which the knowledge of the Gospel supplies. 144 Bodily Suffering. I 1. Now, as to its effect upon the mind, let it be well / understood that it has no sanctifying influence in itself. V\ Bad men are made worse by it. This should be borne in mind, lest we deceive ourselves ; for sometimes we speak (at least the poor often so speak) as though pre- sent hardship and suffering were in some sense a ground of confidence in themselves as to our future prospects, whether as expiating our sins or bringing our hearts nearer to God. Nay, even the more religious among us may be misled to think that pain makes them better than it really does ; for the effect of it at length, on any but very proud or ungovernable tempers, is to cause a languor and composure of mind, which looks like resig- nation, .while it necessarily throws our reason upon the especial thought of God, our only stay in such times of trial. Doubtless it does really benefit the Christian, and in no scanty measure ; and he may thank God who thus blesses it ; only let him be cautious of measuring his spiritual state by the particular exercise of faith and love in his heart at the time, especially if that exercise K be limited to the affections themselves, and have no I opportunity of showing itself in works. St. Paul speaks of chastisement "yielding afterwards the peaceable fruit of righteousness,"1 formed indeed and ripened at the moment, but manifested in due season. This may be the real fruit of the suffering of a death-bed, even though it may not have time to show itself to others before the Christian departs hence. Surely we may humbly hope that it perfects habits hitherto but partially formed, and blends the several graces of the 1 Heb. xii. 11. Bodily Suffering. 145 Spirit moie entirely. Such is the issue of it in estab- lished Christians ; — but it may possibly effect nothing so blessed. Nay, in the case of those who have followed Christ with but a half heart, it may be 'a trial too strong for their feebleness, and may overpower them. This is a dreadful reflection for those who put off the day of repentance. Well does our Church pray for us: "Suffer us not, at our last hour, for any pains of death to fall from Thee !" As for unbelievers, we know how it- affects them, from such serious passages of Scripture as the following : " They gnawed their tongues for pain, and blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds."1- Nay, I would go so far as to say, not only that pain does not commonly improve us, but that without care it has a strong tendency to do our souls harm, viz., by making us selfish; an effect produced, even when it does us good in other ways. "Weak health, for instance, instead of opening the heart, often makes a man supremely careful of his bodily ease and well-being. Men find an excuse in their infirmities for some ex- traordinary attention to their comforts; they consider they may fairly consult, on all occasions, their own convenience rather than that of another. They indulge their wayward wishes, allow themselves in indolence when they really might exert themselves, and think they may be fretful because they are weak They become querulous, self-willed, fastidious, and egotistical Bystanders, indeed, should be very cautions of thinking 1 Rev. xvi. 10, 11. [Ill] K 146 Bodily Sitffering. any particular sufferer to be thus minded, because, after all, sick people have a multitude of feelings which they cannot explain to any one else, and are often in the right in those matters in which they appear to others most fanciful or unreasonable. Yet this does not interfere with the correctness of my remark on the whole. Take another instance under very different circum- stances. If bodily suffering can be presented under distinct aspects, it is in the lassitude of a sick-bed and in the hardships of the soldier's life. Yet of the latter we find selfishness almost a proverbial characteristic. Surely the life of soldiers on service is a very school of generosity and self-neglect, if rightly understood, and is used as such by the noble and high-principled ; yet here, a low and carnal mind, instead of profiting by its advantages, will yield to the temptation of referring everything that befalls it to its own comfort and profit. To secure its own interests, will become enshrined within it as its main duty, and with the greater plausibility, inasmuch as there is a sense in which it may really be so accounted. Others (it will suggest) must take care of themselves ; it is a folly and weakness to think of them ; there are but few chances of safety ; the many must suffer, some unto death ; it is wisdom to struggle for life and comfort, and to dismiss the thought of others. Alas ! instances occur, every now and therif in the experience of life, which show that such thoughts and feelings are not peculiar to any one class of men, but are the actuating principles of the multitude. If an alarm of danger be given amid a Bodily Suffering. 147 crowd, the general eagerness for safety leads men to act towards each other with utter unconcern, if not with frantic cruelty. There are stories told of companies of men finding themselves at sea with scanty provisions, and of the shocking deeds which followed, when each was struggling to preserve his own life. The natural effect, then, of pain and fear, is to individualize us in our own minds, to fix our thoughts on ourselves, to make us selfish. It is through pain, chiefly, that we realize to ourselves even our bodily organs ; a frame entirely without painful sensations is (as it were) one whole without parts, and prefigures that future spiritual "body which shall be the portion of the Saints. And to this we most approximate in our youth, when we are not sensible that we are compacted of gross terrestrial matter, as advancing years convince us. The young reflect little upon themselves; they gaze around them, and live out of doors, and say they have souls, little understanding their words. "They rejoice in their youth." This, then, is the effect of suffering, that it arrests us : that it puts, as it were, a finger upon us to ascertain for us our own individuality. But it does no more than this ; if such a warning does not lead us through the stirrings of our conscience heavenwards, it dose but imprison us in ourselves and make us selfish. 2. Here, then, it is that the Gospel finds us ; heirs to "a visitation, which, sooner or later, comes upon us, turning our thoughts from outward objects, and so tempting us to idolize self, to the dishonour of that God whom we ought to worship, and the neglect of man 148 Bodily Suffering. whom we should love as ourselves. Thus it finds us, and it obviates this danger, not by removing pain, but by giving it new associations. Pain, which by nature leads us only to ourselves, carries on the Christian mind from the thought of self to the contemplation of Christ, His passion, His merits, and His pattern ; and, thence, further to that united company of sufferers who follow Him and " are what He is in this world." He is the great Object of our faith; and, while we gaze upon Him, we learn to forget ourselves. Surely that is not the most fearful and hateful of evils, here below, however trying to the flesh, which Christ underwent voluntarily. No one chooses evil for its own sake, but for the greater good wrought out through it. He underwent it as for ends greater than the immediate removal of it, "not grudgingly or of necessity," but cheerfully doing God's will, as the Gospel history sets before us. When His time was come, we are told, " He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem." His disciples said, "Master, the Jews of late sought to stone Thee, and goest Thou thither again?" but He persisted. Again, He said to Judas, " That thou doest, do quickly." He proceeded to the garden beyond Cedron, though Judas knew the place ; and when the band of officers came to seize Him, "He went forth, and said unto them, I am He."1 And with what calm- ness and majesty did He bear His sufferings, when they came upon Him, though by His agony in the garden *He showed He fully felt their keenness ! The Psalmist, in his prediction of them, says, "I am poured out like 1 Luke ix. 51 ; John xi. 8 ; xiii. 27 ; xviii. 2, 4, 5. Bodily Suffering. 149 water, and all my bones are out of joint ; my heart is like wax, it is melted;"1 describing, as it would seem, that sinking of spirit and enfeebling of nerve which severe pain causes. Yet, in the midst of distress which seemed to preclude the opportunity of obedience, He was " about His Father's business," even more diligently than when in His childhood He asked questions of the doctors in the Temple; not thinking to be merely passive under the trial, but accounting it as if a great occasion for a noble and severe surrender of Himself to His Father's will. Thus He " learned obedience by the things that He suffered." Consider the deep and serene compassion which led Him to pray for those who crucified Him; His solicitous care of His Mother; and His pardoning words addressed to the robber who suffered with Him. And so, when He said, " It is finished," He showed that He was still contemplating, with a clear intellect, " the travail of His soul, and was satisfied ;" and in the solemn surrender of Himself into His Father's hand, He showed where His mind rested in the midst of its darkness. Even when He seemed to be thinking of Himself, and said, " I thirst," He really was regarding the words of prophecy, and was bent on vindicating, to the very letter, the divine announcements concerning Him. Thus, upon the Cross itself, we dis- cern in Him the mercy of a Messenger from heaven, the love and grace of a Saviour, the dutifulness of a Son, the faith of a created nature, and the zeal of a servant of God. His mind was stayed upon His Father s sove- reign will and infinite perfections, yet could pass, with- 1 Ps. xxii. 14. 150 Bodily Suffering. out effort, to the claim of filial duty, or tlie need of an individual sinner. Six out of His seven last words were words of faith and love. For one instant a horrible dread overwhelmed Him, when He seemed to ask why God had forsaken Him. Doubtless " that voice was for oursakes;" as when He made mention of His thirst; and, like the other, was taken from inspired prophecy. Perhaps it was intended to set before ns an example of a special trial to which human nature is subject, what- ever was the real and inscrutable manner of it in Him, who was all along supported by an inherent Divinity ; I mean the trial of sharp agony, hurrying the mind on to vague terrors and strange inexplicable thoughts ; and is, therefore, graciously recorded for our benefit, in the history of His death, " who was tempted, in all points, like as we are, yet without sin."1 Such, then, were our Lord's sufferings, voluntarily undergone, and ennobled by an active obedience ; them- selves the centre of our hopes and worship, yet borne without thought of self, towards God and for man. And who, among us, habitually dwells upon them, but is led, without deliberate purpose, by the very warmth of gratitude and adoring love, to attempt bearing his own inferior trials in the same heavenly mind ? Who does not see that to bear pain well is to meet it courageously, not to shrink or waver, but to pray for God's help, then to look at it steadfastly, to summon what nerve we have of mind and body, to receive its attack, and to bear up against it (while strength is given us) as against some visible enemy in close combat ? Who will not acknow- * Heb. iv. 15. Bodily Suffering. 151 ledge that, -when sent to us, we must make its presence (as it were) our own voluntary act, by the cheerful and ready concurrence of our own will with the will of God ? Nay, who is there but must own that with Christ's sufferings before us, pain and tribulation are, after all, not only the most blessed, but even the most congruous attendants upon those who are called to inherit the benefit of them ? Most congruous, I say, not as though necessary, but as most natural and befitting, harmonizing most fully, with the main Object in the group of sacred wonders on which the Church is called to gaze. Who, on the other hand, does not at least perceive that all the glare and gaudiness of this world, its excitements, its keenly-pursued goods, its successes and its transports, its pomps and its luxuries, are not in character with that pale and solemn scene which faith must ever have in its eye? What Christian will not own that to "reign as kings," and to be " full," is not his calling ; so as to derive comfort in the hour of sickness, or bereavement, or other affliction, from the thought that he is now in his own place, if he be Christ's, in his true home, the sepulchre in which his Lord was laid ? So deeply have His Saints felt this, that when times were peaceful, and the Church was in safety, they could not rest in the lap of ease, and have secured to themselves hardnesses, lest the world should corrupt them. They could not bear to see the much-enduring Paul adding to his necessary tribulations a self-inflicted chastisement of the flesh, and yet allow themselves to live delicately, and fare sumptuously every day. They saw the image of Christ reflected in tears and blood, in the glorious company of 152 Bodily Suffering. the Apostles, the goodly fellowship of the Prophets, and the noble army of Martyrs ; they read in prophecy of the doom of the Church, as " a woman fed by God in the wilderness,"1 and her witnesses as "clothed in sackcloth;" and they could not believe that they were meant for nothing more than to enjoy the pleasures of this life, however innocent and moderate might be their use of them. Without deciding about their neighbours, they felt themselves called to higher things ; their own sense of the duty became the sanction and witness of it. They considered that God, at least, would afflict them in His love, if they spared themselves ever so much. The thorn in the flesh, the bufferings of Satan, the bereavement of their eyes, these were their portion; and, in common prudence, were there no higher thought, they could not live out of time and measure with these expected visitations. With no superstitious alarms, or cowardly imaginations, or senseless hurrying into difficulty or trial, but calmly and in faith, they surrendered themselves into His hands, who had told them in His inspired word that affliction was to be their familiar food; till at length they gained such distaste for the luxuries of life as to be impatient of them from their very fulness of grace. Even in these days, when the " fine gold has become dim," such has been the mind of those we most re- vere.2 But such was it especially in primitive times. 1 Vide Rev. xii. 6 ; xi. 3. 2 "It is a most miserable state for a man to have everything according to his desire, and quietly to enjoy the pleasures of life. There needs no more to expose him to eternal misery." — Bishop Wilson — Sacra Privata. Bodily Sitffering. 153 It was the temper, too, of those Apostles who were removed, more than their brethren, from the world's buffetings; as if the prospect of suffering afterwards were no ground of dispensation for a present self- inflicted discipline, but rather demanded it. St. James the Less was Bishop of Jerusalem, and was highly venerated for his uprightness by the unbelieving Jews among whom he lived unmolested. "We are told that he drank no wine nor strong drink, nor did he eat any animal food, nor indulge in the luxury of the bath. "So often was he in the Temple on his knees, that they were thin and hard by his continual supplication."1 Thus he kept his "loins girded about, and his lamp burning/' for the blessed martyrdom which was to end his course. Could it be otherwise ? How could the great Apostle, sitting at home by his Lord's decree, " nourish his heart," as he calls it, " as for the slaugh- ter ? " How could he eat, and drink, and live as other men, when "the Ark, and Israel, and Judah were in tents," encamped in the open fields, and one by one, God's chosen warriors were falling before the brief triumph of Satan ! How could he be " delicate on the earth, and wanton," when Paul and Barnabas, Peter, too, and John were in stripes and prisons, in labours and perils, in hunger and thirst, in cold and nakedness ! Stephen had led the army of Martyrs in Jerusalem itself, which was his own post of service. James, the brother of John, had followed him in the same city; he first of the Apostles tasting our Lord's cup, who had unwittingly asked to drink it. And if this was the 1 Euseb. Hist., ii. 23. 154 Bodily Suffering. feeling of the Apostles, when in temporary safety, why is it not ours, who altogether live at ease, except that we have not faith enough to realize what is past ? Could we see the Cross upon Calvary, and the list of sufferers who resisted unto blood in the times that followed it, is it possible that we should feel surprise when pain overtook us, or impatience at its continu- ance ? Is it strange though we are smitten by ever so new a plague ? Is it grievous that the Cross presses on one nerve or limb ever so many years till hope of relief is gone ? Is it, indeed, not possible with the Apostle to rejoice in "bearing in our body the marks of the Lord Jesus ?" And much more, can we, for very shame's sake, suffer ourselves to be troubled at what is but ordinary pain, to be irritated or saddened, made gloomy or anxious by inconveniences which never could surprise or unsettle those who had studied and under- stood their place as servants of a crucified Lord ? Let us, then, determine with cheerful hearts to sacri- fice unto the Lord our God our comforts and pleasures, however innocent, when He calls for them, whether for the purposes of His Church, or in His own inscru- table Providence. Let us lend to Him a few short hours of present ease, and we shall receive our own with abundant usury in the day of His coming. There is a Treasury in heaven stored with such offerings as the natural man abhors ; with sighs and tears, wounds and blood, torture and death. The Martyrs first began the contribution, and we all may follow them ; all of us, for every suffering, great or little, may, like the widow's mite, be sacrificed in faith to Him who sent it. Christ Bodily Suffering. 155 gave us the words of consecration, when He for an ensample said, "Thy will be done." Henceforth, as the Apostle speaks, we may " glory in tribulation," as the seed of future glory. Meanwhile, let us never forget in all we suffer, that, properly speaking, our own sin is the cause of it, and it is only by Christ's mercy that we are allowed to range ourselves at His side. We who are children of wrath, are made through Him children of grace ; and our pains — which are in themselves but foretastes of hell — are changed by the sprinkling of His blood into a prepa- ration for heaven, SERMON XII. THE HUMILIATION OF THE ETERNAL SON. HEBREWS v. 7, 8. Wlw, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto Him that was able to save Him from death, and was heard in that He feared, though He were a Son, yet learned He obedience by the things which He FT1HE chief mystery of our holy faith is the humilia- •*• tion of the Son of God to temptation and suffering, as described in this passage of Scripture. In truth, it is a more overwhelming mystery even than that which is involved in the doctrine of the Trinity. I say, more overwhelming, not greater — for we cannot measure the more and the less in subjects utterly incomprehensible and divine ; but with more in it to perplex and subdue our minds. When the mystery of the Trinity is set before us, we see indeed that it is quite beyond our reason ; but, at the same time, it is no wonder that human language should be unable to convey, and human intellect to receive, truths relating to the incommunicable and infinite essence of Almighty God. But the mystery of the Incarnation relates, in part, to subjects more level with our reason; it lies not only The Humiliation of the Eternal Son. 157 in the manner how God and man is one Christ, "but in the very fact that so it is. We think we know of God so much as this, that He is altogether separate from imperfection and infirmity; yet we are told that the Eternal Son has taken into Himself a creature's nature, which henceforth "became as much one with Him, as much belonged to Him, as the divine attributes and powers which He had ever had. The mystery lies as much in what we think we know, as in what we do not know. Keflect, for instance, upon the language of the text. The Son of God, who " had glory with the Father " from everlasting, was found, at a certain time, in human flesh, offering up prayers and supplications to Him, crying out and weeping, and exercising obedience in suffering ! Do not suppose, from my thus speaking, that I would put the doctrine before you as a hard saying, as a stumbling-block, and a yoke of bondage, to which you must perforce submit, however unwillingly. Tar be it from us to take such unthankful account of a dispensation which has brought us salvation ! Those who in the Cross of Christ see the Atonement for sin, cannot choose but glory in it ; and its mysteriousness does but make them glory in it the more. They boast of it before men and Angels, before an unbelieving world, and before fallen spirits ; with no confusion of face, but with a reverent boldness they confess this miracle of grace, and cherish it in their creed, though it gains them but the contempt and derision of the proud and ungodly. And as the doctrine of our Lord's humiliation is most mysterious, so the very surface of the narrative in which 158 The Humiliation of the Eternal Son. it is contained is mysterious also, as exciting wonder, and impressing upon us our real ignorance of the nature, manner, and causes of it. Take, for instance, His temptation. Why was it undergone at all, seeing our redemption is ascribed to His death, not to it? Why was it so long? What took place during it? What was Satan's particular object in tempting Him ? How came Satan to have such power over Him as to be able to transport Him from place to place ? and what was the precise result of the temptation ? These and many other questions admit of no satisfactory solution. There is something remarkable too in the period of it, being the same as that of the long fasts of Moses and Elijah, and of His own abode on earth after His resurrection. A like mystery again is cast around that last period of His earthly mission. Then He was engaged we know not how, except that He appeared, from time to time, to His Apostles ; of the forty days of His temptation we know still less, only that " He did eat nothing," and "was with the wild beasts."1 Again, there is something of mystery in the connec- tion of His temptation with the descent of the Holy Ghost upon Him on His baptism. After the voice from heaven had proclaimed, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased," "immediately'' as St. Mark says, " the Spirit driveth Him into the wilder- ness." As if there were some connection, beyond our understanding, between His baptism and temptation, the first act of the Holy Spirit is forthwith to " drive Him " (whatever is meant by the word) into the wilder- 1 Luke iv. 2 ; Mark i. 13. The Humiliation of the Eternal Son. 159 ness. Observe, too, that it was almost from this solemn recognition, " This is My beloved Son," that the Devil took up the temptation, " If Thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread ; "* yet what his thoughts and designs were we cannot even conjecture. All we see is a renewal, apparently, of Adam's temptation, in the person of the "second Man." In like manner, questions might be asked concern- ing His descent into hell, which could as little be solved, with our present limited knowledge of the nature and means of His gracious Economy. I bring together these various questions in order to impress upon you our depth of ignorance on the entire subject under review. The Dispensation of mercy is revealed to us in its great and blessed result, our redemption, and in one or two other momentous points. Upon all these we ought to dwell and enlarge, mind- fully and thankfully, but with the constant recollection that after all, as regards the Dispensation itself, only one or two partial notices are revealed to us altogether of a great Divine Work. Enlarge upon them we ought, even because they are few and partial, not slighting what is given us, because it is not all (like the servant who buried his lord's talent), but giving it what increase we can. And as there is much danger of the narrow spirit of that slothful servant at the present day, in which is strangely combined a profession of knowing everything, with an assertion that there is nothing to know concerning the Incarnation, I propose now, by 1 Matt. iv. 3. 160 The Humiliation of the Eternal Son. God's blessing, to set before you the Scripture doctrine concerning it, as the Church Catholic has ever received it; trading with the talent committed to us, so that when our Lord comes He may receive His own with usury. Bearing in mind, then, that we know nothing truly about the manner or the ultimate ends of the humi- liation of the Eternal Son, our Lord and Saviour, let us consider what that humiliation itself was. The text says, " though He were a Son." Now, in these words, " the Son of God," much more is implied than at first sight may appear. Many a man gathers up, here and there, some fragments of religious know- ledge. He hears one thing said in Church, he sees another thing in the Prayer-book ; and among religious people, or in the world, he gains something more. In this way he gets possession of sacred words and state- ments, knowing very little about them really. He interprets them, as it may happen, according to the various and inconsistent opinions which he has met with, or he puts his own meaning upon them, that is, the meaning, as must needs be, of an untaught, not to say a carnal and irreverent mind. How can a man expect he shall discern and apprehend the real meaning and language of Scripture, if he has never approached it as a learner, and waited on the Divine Author of it for the gift of wisdom ? By continual meditation on the sacred text, by diligent use of the Church's instruction, he will come to understand what the Gospel doctrines are ; but, most surely, if all the knowledge he has be gathered from a sentence caught up here, and an argu- The Humiliation of the Eternal Son. r6r ment heard there, even when he is most orthodox in word, he has but a collection of phrases, on which he puts, not the right meaning, but his own meaning. And the least reflection must show you what a very poor and unworthy meaning, or rather how false a meaning " the natural man " will put upon " the things of the Spirit of God." I have been led to say this from having used the words, "The Son of Godr" which, I much fear, convey, to a great many minds, little or no idea, little or nothing of a high, religious, solemn idea. We have, perhaps, a vague general notion that they mean something extraordinary and supernatural; but we know that we ourselves are called, in one sense, sons of God in Scripture. Moreover we have heard, perhaps (and even though we do not recollect it, yet may retain the impression of it), that the Angels are sons of God. In consequence, we collect just thus much from the title as applied to our Lord, that He came from God, that He was the well-beloved of God, and that He is much more than a mere man. This is all that the words convey to many men at the most ; while many more refer them merely to His human nature. How different is the state of those who have been duly initiated into the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven ! How different was the mind of the primitive Christians, who so eagerly and vigorously apprehended the gracious announcement, that in this title, "The Son of God," they saw and enjoyed the full glories of the Gospe^ doctrine ! When times grew cold and unbelieving, then indeed as at this day, public explanations were necessary of those simple and sacred words ; but the first Christians L 1 62 The Humiliation of the Eternal Son. needed none. They felt that in saying that Christ was the Son of God, they were witnessing to a thousand marvellous and salutary truths, which they could not indeed understand, but by which they might gain life, and for which they could dare to die. What, then, is meant by the "Son of God?" It is meant that our Lord is the very or true Son of God, that is, His Son by nature. We are but called the sons of God — we are adopted to be sons — but our Lord and Saviour is the Son of God, really and by birth, and He alone is such. Hence Scripture calls Him the Only- begotten Son. " Such knowledge is too excellent for" us ; yet, however high it be, we learn as from His own mouth that God is not solitary, if we may dare so to speak, but that in His own incomprehensible essence, in the perfection of His one indivisible and eternal nature, His Dearly-beloved Son has ever existed with Him, who is called the Word, and, being His Son, is partaker in all the fulness of His Godhead. " In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Thus when the early Chris- tians used the title, " The Son of God," they meant, after the manner of the Apostles when they use it in Scrip- ture, all we mean in the Creed, when, by way of explaining ourselves, we confess Him to be " God from God, Light from Light, Very or True God from True God." Tor in that He is the Son of God, He must be whatever God is, all-holy, all- wise, all-powerful, all- good, eternal, infinite ; yet since there is only one God, He must be at the same time not separate from God, but ever one with and in Him, one indivisibly ; so that The Humiliation of the Eternal Son. 163 it would be as idle language to speak of Him as sepa- rated in essence from His Father, as to say that our reason, or intellect, or will, was separate from our minds — as rash and profane language to deny to the Father His Only-begotten Word, in whom He has ever de- lighted, as to deny His Wisdom or Goodness, or Power, which also have been in and with Him from ever- lasting. The text goes on to say : " Though He were a Son, yet learned He obedience by the things which He suffered." Obedience belongs to a servant, but accordance, concur- rence, co-operation, are the characteristics of a Son. In His eternal union with God there was no distinction of will and work between Him and His Father; as the Father's life was the Son's life, and the Father's glory the Son's also, so the Son was the very Word and Wis- dom of the Father, His Power and Co-equal Minister in all things, the same and not the same as He Himself. But in the days of His flesh, when He had humbled Himself to " the form of a servant," taking on Himself a separate will and a separate work, and the toil and sufferings incident to a creature, then what had been mere concurrence became obedience. This, then, is the force of the words, " Though He was a Son, yet had He experience of obedience." He took on Him a lower nature, and wrought in it towards a Will higher and more perfect than it. Further, " He learned obedience amid suffering" and, therefore, amid temptation. His mysterious agony under it is described in the former part of the text ; which declares that " in the days of His flesh," He "offered up prayers and supplications, 164 The Humiliation of the Eternal Son. with strong crying and tears, unto Him that was able to save Him from death, and was heard in that He feared." Or, in the words of the foregoing chapter, He " was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." I am only concerned here in setting before you the sacred truth itself, not how it was, or why, or with what results. Let us, then, reverently consider what is im- plied in it. " The Word was made flesh ;" by which is meant, not that He selected some particular existing man and dwelt in him (which in no sense would answer to the force of those words, and which He condescends to do continually in the case of all His elect, through His Spirit), but that He became what He was not before, that He took into His own Infinite Essence man's nature itself in all its completeness, creating a soul and body, and, at the moment of creation, making them His own, so that they never were other than His, never existed by themselves or except as in Him, being properties or attributes of Him (to use defective words) as really as His divine goodness, or His eternal Sonship, or His perfect likeness to the Father. And, while thus adding a new nature to Himself, He did not in any respect cease to be what He was before. How was that possible ? All the while He was on earth, when He was conceived, when He was born, when He was tempted, on the cross, in the grave, and now at God's right hand — all the time through, He was the Eternal and Unchangeable "Word, the Son of God. The flesh which He had assumed was but the instrument through which He acted for and towards us. As He acts in creation by His wisdom and power, towards Angels by His love, The Humiliation of the Eternal Son. 165 towards devils by His wrath, so He has acted for our redemption through our own nature, which in His great mercy He attached to His own Person, as if an attri- bute, simply, absolutely, indissolubly. Thus St. Paul speaks — as in other places, of the love of God, and the holiness of God — so in one place expressly of "the blood of God," if I may venture to use such words out of the sacred context, " Feed the Church of God," he says to the elders of Ephesus, "which He hath pur- chased with His own Nood"1 Accordingly, whatever our Lord said or did upon earth was strictly and literally the word and deed of God Himself. Just as we speak of seeing our friends, though we do not see their souls but merely their bodies, so the Apostles, Disciples, Priests, and Pharisees, and the multitude, all who saw Christ in the flesh, saw, as the whole earth will see at the last day, the Very and Eternal Son of God. After this manner, then, must be understood His suffering, temptation, and obedience, not as if He ceased to be what He had ever been, but, having clothed Him- self with a created essence, He made it the instrument of His humiliation; He acted in it, He obeyed and suffered through it. Do not we see among men, circum- stances of a peculiar land throw one of our own race out of himself, so that he, the same man, acts as if his usual self were not in being, and he had fresh feelings and faculties, for the occasion, higher or lower than before? Ear be it from our thoughts to parallel the incarnation of the Eternal Word with such an accidental change ! but I mention it, not to explain a Mystery 1 Acts xx. 28. 1 66 The Humiliation of the Eternal Son. (which I relinquished the thought of from the first), but to facilitate your conception of Him who is the subject of it, to help you towards contemplating Him as God and man at once, as still the Son of God though He had assumed a nature short of His original perfection. That Eternal Mind, which, till then, had thought and acted as God, began to think and act as a man, with all man's faculties, affections, and imperfections, sin excepted. Before He came on earth He was infinitely above joy and grief, fear and anger, pain and heaviness ; but afterwards all these properties and many more were His as fully as they are ours. Before He came on earth, He had but the perfections of God, but afterwards He had also the virtues of a creature, such as faith, meek- ness, self-denial. Before He came on earth He could not be tempted of evil ; but afterwards He had a man's heart, a man's tears, and a man's wants and infirmities. His Divine Nature indeed pervaded His manhood, so that every deed and word of His in the flesh savoured of eternity and infinity ; but, on the other hand, from the time He was born of the Virgin Mary, he had a natural fear of danger, a natural shrinking from pain, though ever subject to the ruling influence of that Holy and Eternal Essence which was in Him. For instance, we read on one occasion of His praying that the cup might pass from Him ; and, at another, when Peter showed surprise at the prospect of His crucifixion, He rebuked him sharply, as if for tempting Him to mur- mur and disobey. Thus He possessed at once a double assemblage of attributes, divine and human. Still he was all-powerful, The Phimiliation of the Eternal Son. 167 though in the form of a servant; still He was all-know- ing, though seemingly ignorant ; still incapable of temp- tation, though exposed to it ; and if any one stumble at this, as not a mere mystery, but in the very form of language a contradiction of terms, I would have him reflect on those peculiarities of human nature itself, which I just now hinted at. Let him consider the condition of his own mind, and see how like a con- tradiction it is. Let him reflect upon the faculty of memory, and try to determine whether he does or does not know a thing which he cannot recollect, or rather, whether it may not be said of him, that one self-same person, that in one sense he knows it, in another he does not know it. This may serve to appease his imagination, if it startles at the mystery. Or let him consider the state of an infant, which seems, indeed, to be without a soul for many months, which seems to have only the senses and functions of animal life, yet has, we know, a soul, which may even be regenerated. What, indeed, can be more mysterious than the Baptism of an infant ? How strange is it, yet how transporting a sight, what a source of meditation is opened on us, while we look upon what seems so helpless, so reason- less, and know that at that moment it has a soul so fully formed, as on the one hand, indeed, to be a child of wrath; and, on the other (blessed be God), to be capable of a new birth through the Spirit ! Who can say, if we had eyes to see, in what state that infant soul is ? Who can say it has not its energies of reason and of will in some unknown sphere, quite consistently with the reality of its insensibility to the external world ? 1 68 The Humiliation of the Eternal Son. Who can say that all of us, or at least all who are living in the faith of Christ, have not some strange but uncon- scious life in God's presence all the while we are here, seeing what we do not know we see, impressed yet without power of reflection, and this, without having a double self in consequence, and with an increase to us, not a diminution, of the practical reality of our earthly sojourn and probation ? Are there not men before now who, like Elisha, when his spirit followed Gehazi, or St. Peter, when he announced the coming of Sapphira's bearers, or St. Paul, when his presence went before him to Corinth,1 seem to range beyond themselves, even while in the flesh? Who knows where he is "in visions of the night ?" And this being so, how can we pronounce it to be any contradiction that, while the Word of God was upon earth, in our flesh, compassed within and without with human virtues and feelings, with faith and patience, fear and joy, grief, misgivings, infirmities, temptations, still He was, according to His Divine Nature, as from the first, passing in thought from one end of heaven even to the other, reading all hearts, foreseeing all events, and receiving all worship as in the bosom of the Father ? This, indeed, is what He suggests to us Himself in those surprising words addressed to Mcodemus, which might even be taken to imply that even His human nature was at that very time in heaven while He spoke to him. "No man hath ascended up to heaven, but He that came down from heaven, even the Son of man, which is in heaven."2 To conclude, if any one is tempted to consider such 1 2 Kings v. 26 ; Acts v. 9 ; 1 Cor. iv. 19 ; v. 3. 2 John iii. 13. The Humiliation of the Eternal Son. 1 69 subjects as the foregoing, abstract, speculative, and un- profitable, I would observe, in answer, that I have taken it on the very ground of its being, as I believe, especi- ally practical. Let it not be thought a strange thing to say, though I say it, that there is much in the religious belief, even of the more serious part of the community at present, to make observant men very anxious where it will end. It would be no very difficult matter, I sus- pect, to perplex the faith of a great many persons who believe themselves to be orthodox, and, indeed, are so, according to their light. They have been accustomed to call Christ God, but that is all ; they have not con- sidered what is meant by applying that title to One who was really a man, and from the vague way in which they use it, they would be in no small danger, if assailed by a subtle disputant, of being robbed of the sacred truth in its substance, even if they kept it in name. In truth, until we contemplate our Lord and Saviour, God and man, as a really existing being, external to our minds, as complete and entire in His personality as we appear to be to each other, as one and the same in all His various and contrary attributes, " the same yester- day, to-day, and for ever," we are using words which profit not. Till then we do not realize that Object of faith, which is not a mere name on which titles and properties may be affixed without congruity and mean- ing, but has a personal existence and an identity distinct from everything else. In what true sense do we " know" Him, if our idea of Him be not such as to take up and incorporate into itself the manifold attributes and offices which we ascribe to Him? What do we gain from 1 70 The Humiliation of the Eternal Son. words, however correct and abundant, if they end with themselves, instead of lighting up the image of the Incarnate Son in our hearts ? Yet this charge may too surely be brought against the theology of late centuries, which, under the pretence of guarding against presump- tion, denies us what is revealed ; like Ahaz, refusing to ask for a sign, lest it should tempt the Lord. Influenced by it, we have well-nigh forgotten the sacred truth, graciously disclosed for our support, that Christ is the Son of God in His Divine nature, as well as His human ; we have well-nigh ceased to regard Him, after the pattern of the Mcene Creed, as " God from God, and Light from Light," ever one with Him, yet evei distinct from Him. "We speak of Him in a vague way as God, which is true, but not the whole truth; and, in con- sequence when we proceed to consider His humiliation, we are unable to carry on the notion of His personality from heaven to earth. He who was but now spoken of as God, without mention of the Father from whom He is, is next described as a creature; but how do these distinct notions of Him hold together in our minds ? We are able to continue the idea of a Son into that of a servant, though the descent was infinite, and, to our reason, incomprehensible; but when we merely speak first of God, then of man, we seem to change the Nature without preserving the Person. In truth, His Divine Sonship is that portion of the sacred doctrine on which the mind is providentially intended to rest throughout, and so to preserve for itself His identity unbroken. But when we abandon this gracious help afforded to our faith, how can we hope to gain the one true and simple The Humiliation of the Eternal Son. 1 7 1 vision of Him ? how shall we possibly look beyond our own words, or apprehend, in any sort, what we say? In consequence we are too often led, as a matter of necessity, in discoursing of His words and works, to distinguish between the Christ who lived on earth and the Son of God Most High, speaking of His human nature and His Divine nature so separately as not to feel or understand that God is man and man is God. I am speaking of those of us who have learned to reflect, reason, and dispute, to inquire and pursue their thoughts, not of the incurious or illiterate, who are not exposed to the temptation in question ; and of the former I fear I must say (to use the language of ancient theology), that they begin by being Sabellians, that they go on to be Nestorians, and that they tend to be Ebionites and to deny Christ's Divinity altogether. Meanwhile, the reli- gious world little thinks whither its opinions are leading; and will not discover that it is adoring a mere abstract name or a vague creation of the mind for the Ever- living Son, till the defection of its members from the faith startle it, and teach it that the so-called religion of the heart, without orthodoxy of doctrine, is but the warmth of a corpse, real for a time, but sure to fail How long will that complicated Error last under which our Church now labours ? How long are human traditions of modern date to obscure, in so many ways, the majestic interpretations of Holy Writ which the Church Catholic has inherited from the age of the Apostles ? When shall we be content to enjoy the wisdom and the pureness which Christ has bequeathed to His Church as a perpetual gift, instead of attempting 172 The Humiliation of the Eternal Son. to draw our Creed, each for himself, as he best may, from the deep wells of truth ? Surely in vain have we escaped from the superstitions of the middle ages, if the corruptions of a rash and self-trusting philosophy spread over our faith ! May God, even the Father, give us a heart and under- standing to realize, as well as to confess that doctrine . into which we were baptized, that His Only-begotten Son, our Lord, was conceived by the Holy Ghost, was born of the Virgin Mary, suffered, and was buried, rose again from the dead, ascended into heaven, from whence He shall come again, at the end of the world, to judge the quick and the dead 1 SEEMON XIII. JEWISH ZEAL, A PATTERN TO CHRISTIANS. JUDGES v. 31. " So let all thine enemies perish, 0 Lord ; but let them that love Him, be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might. And the land had rest forty years." TTTHAT a contrast do these words present to the history which goes before them ! " It came to pass," says the sacred writer, " when Israel was strong, that they put the Canaanites to tribute, and did not utterly drive them out. Neither did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer .... Neither did Zebulon drive out the inhabitants of Kitron Neither did Asher drive out the inhabitants of Accho. .... Neither did Naphtali drive out the inhabitants of Bethshemesh."1 What was the consequence ? "And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord and served Baalim .... they forsook the Lord and served Baal and Ashtaroth. And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and He delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them, and He sold them into the hands of their enemies round about. 1 Judges i. 28-32. 174 Jewish Zeal, .... Whithersoever they went out, the hand of the Lord was against them for evil, as the Lord had said, and as the Lord had sworn unto them ; and they were greatly distressed."1 Here is the picture of indolence and unfaithfulness leading to cowardice, to apostasy, and to national ruin. On the other hand, consider, by way of contrast, the narrative contained in the chapter which ends with the text. Ephraim and Benjamin, Machir and Zebulon, Issachar and Naphtali, rousing, uniting, assailing their enemies, and conquering; conquering in the strength of the Lord. Their long captivity was as nothing, through God's great mercy, when they turned to Him. In vain had their enemies trod them down to the ground ; the Church of God had that power and grace within it, that whenever it could be persuaded to shake off its lassitude and rally, it smote as sharply and as effectively as though it had never been bound with the green withs and the new ropes of the Philistines. So it was now. " Awake, awake, Deborah : awake, awake, utter a song : arise, Barak, and lead thy cap- tivity captive, thou son of Abinoam." Such was the inspired cry of war: and it was obeyed. In conse- quence the Canaanites were discomfited in battle and fled ; " and the land had rest forty years." Here is a picture of manly obedience to God's will — a short trial of trouble and suffering — and then the reward, peace. I propose now to make some remarks upon the lesson conveyed to us in this picture, which extends indeed through the greater part of the Old Testament 1 Judges ii. 11-15. A Pattern to Christians. 175 — the lesson to us as individuals ; for surely it is with reference to our own duties as individuals, that we should read every part of Scripture. What the Old Testament especially teaches us is this : — that zeal is as essentially a duty of all God's rational creatures, as prayer and praise, faith and sub- mission ; and, surely, if so, especially of sinners whom He has redeemed ; that zeal consists in a strict atten- tion to His commands — a scrupulousness, vigilance, heartiness, and punctuality, which bears with no rea- soning or questioning about them — an intense thirst for the advancement of His glory — a shrinking from the pollution of sin and sinners — an indignation, nay impatience, at witnessing His honour insulted — a quickness of feeling when His name is mentioned, and a jealousy how it is mentioned — a fulness of purpose, an heroic determination to yield Him service at what- ever sacrifice of personal feeling — an energetic resolve to push through all difficulties, were they as moun- tains, when His eye or hand but gives the sign — a carelessness of obloquy, or reproach, or persecution, a forgetfulness of friend and relative, nay, a hatred (so to say) of all that is naturally dear to us, when He says, "Follow me." These are some of the characteristics of zeal. Such was the temper of Moses, Phinehas, Samuel, David, Elijah ; it is the temper enjoined on all the Israelites, especially in their conduct towards the abandoned nations of Canaan. The text expresses that temper in the words of Deborah : " So let all thine enemies perish, 0 Lord ; but let them that love Him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might." 176 Jewish Zeal, Now, it has sometimes been said that the commands of strenuous and stern service given to the Israelites — for instance, those relative to their taking and keeping possession of the promised land — do not apply to us Christians. There can be no doubt it is not our duty to take the sword and kill the enemies of God as the Jews were told to do ; " Put up again thy sword into his place,"1 are our Saviour's words to St. Peter. So far, then, if this is what is meant by saying that these commands do not apply to us, so far, doubtless, it is clear they do not apply to us. But it does not, hence, follow that the temper of mind which they pre-suppose and foster is not required of us ; else, surely, the Jewish history is no longer profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. St. Peter was blamed, not for his zeal, but for his use of the sword. Man's duty, perfection, happiness, have always been one and the same. He is not a different being now from what he ever was; he has always been com- manded the same duties. What was the holiness of an Israelite is still the holiness of a Christian, though the Christian has far higher privileges and aids for perfec- tion. The Saints of God have ever lived by faith, and walked in the way of justice, mercy, truth, self-mastery, and love. It is impossible, then, that all these duties imposed on the Israelites of driving out their enemies, and taking and keeping possession of the promised land, should not in some sense or other apply to us ; for it is clear they were not in their case mere accidents 1 Matt. xxvi. 52. A Pattern to Christians. 177 of obedience, but went to form a certain inward character, and as clear is it that our heart must be as the heart of Moses or David, if we would be saved through Christ. This is quite evident, if we attentively examine the Jewish history, and the Divine commands which are the principles of it. For these commands, which some persons have said do not apply to us, are so many and varied, and repeated at so many and diverse times, that they certainly must have formed a peculiar character in the heart of the obedient Israelite, and were much more than an outward form and a sort of ceremonial service. They are so abundant throughout the Old Testament, that unless they in some way apply to us, it is difficult to see what is its direct use, at this day, in the way of precept; and this is the very conclusion which these same persons often go on to draw. They are willing to rid themselves of the Old Testament, and they say that Christians are not concerned in it, and that the Jews were almost barbarians ; whereas St. Paul tells us, that the Jewish history is " written for our admonition and our learning." 1 Let us consider some of the commands I have referred to, and the terms in which they are conveyed. For in- stance, that for the extirpation of the devoted nations from the land of Canaan. " When the Lord thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, .... thou shalt smite" the nations that possess it, " and utterly destroy them ; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor show mercy unto them ; 1 1 Cor. x. 11 ; Eom. xv. 4. M 178 Jewish Zeal, neither shalt tliou make marriages with them Ye shall destroy their altars and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn down their graven images with fire. . . . , Thou shalt consume all the people which the Lord thy God shall deliver thee ; thine eye shall have no pity upon them." x Next observe, this merciless temper, as profane people would call it, but as well-instructed Christians say, this godly zeal, was enjoined upon them under far more dis- tressing circumstances, viz., the transgressions of their own relations and friends. " If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, .... Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him, neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him. But thou shalt surely kill him. Thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people."2 Now, doubtless, we at this day are not to put men to death for idolatry; but, doubtless also, whatever temper of mind the fulfilment of this command implied in the Jew, such, essentially, must be our temper of mind, whatever else it may be also ; for God cannot speak two laws, He cannot love two characters — good is good, and evil is evil, and the law He gave to the Jews was, in its substance, " per- fect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord sure, making wise the simple ; the statutes of the Lord right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the 1 Deut. vii. 1-5, 16. 2 Deut. xiii. 6-9. A Pattern to Christians. 179 Lord pure, enlightening the eyes ; . . . . more to be desired than gold, yea than much fine gold ; sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover," as the Psalmist proceeds, " by them is thy servant taught, and in keeping of them there is great reward." x A self-mastering fearless obedience was another part of this same religious temper enjoined on the Jews, and still incumbent, as I dare affirm, on us Christians. " Be ye very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses."2 It required an exceeding moral courage in the Jews to enable them to go straight forward, seduced neither by their feelings nor their reason. Nor was the severe temper under review a duty in the early ages of Judaism only. The book of Psalms was written at different times, between David's age and the captivity, yet it plainly breathes the same hatred of sin, and opposition to sinners. I will but cite one text from the hundred and thirty-ninth Psalm. " Do not I hate them, 0 Lord, that hate Thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against Thee ? I hate them with perfect hatred ; I count them mine enemies." And then the inspired writer proceeds to lay open his soul before God, as if conscious he had but expressed feelings which He would approve. " Search me, 0 God, and know my heart : try me, and know my thoughts, and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." Further still, after the return from the captivity, after the Prophets had enlarged the compass of Divine Eeve- 1 Ps. xix. 7, 8, 10, 11. 2 josht xxiii< 6> 180 Jewish Zeal, lation, and purified and heightened the religious know- ledge of the nation, still this rigid and austere zeal was enjoined and enforced in all its ancient vigour by Ezra. The Jews set about a reformation ; and what was its most remarkable act ? Let us attend to the words of Ezra : " The princes came to me, saying, The people of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites have not sepa- rated themselves from the people of the lands ; for they have taken of their daughters for themselves and for their sons ; so that the holy seed have mingled them- selves with the people of those lands ; yea, the hand of the princes and rulers hath been chief in this trespass." Now let me stop to ask what would most likely be the conduct of a temporizing Christian of this day, had he, in that day, been in Ezra's place ? He would, doubt- less, have said that such marriages were quite unjusti- fiable certainly, but now that they were made, there was no remedy for it ; that they must be hindered in future ; but in the existing instances, the evil being done could not be undone; and, besides, that great men were involved in the sin, whom it was impossible to interfere with. This he would have said, I think, though the prohibition of Moses seemed to make such marriages null and void from the first. Now, I do not say that every one ought to have done what Ezra did, for he was supernaturally directed ; but would the course he adopted have ever entered into the mind of men of this day, or can they even understand or acqui- esce in it, now that they know it ? for what did he ? "And when I heard this thing," he says, "I rent my garment and my mantle, and plucked off the hair of my A Pattern to Christians. 181 head, and of my beard, and sat down astonied. Then were assembled unto me every one that trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the transgression of those that had been carried away, and I sat astonied until the evening sacrifice."1 Then he offered a confes- sion and intercession in behalf of the people ; then at length he and the people came to a decision; which was no other than this — to command all persons who had married foreign wives to put them away. He undid the evil as well as hindered it in future. What an act of self-denying zeal was this in a multitude of people ! These are some, out of many instances, which might be brought from the Jewish history, in proof of the duty of strict and severe loyalty to God and His revealed will ; and I here adduce them, first, to show that the commands involving it could not (their num- ber and variety are so great), could not have related to a merely outward and ceremonial obedience, but must have wrought in the Jews a certain temper of mind, pleasing to God, and therefore necessary for us also to possess. Next, I deduce from that same circumstance of their number and variety, that they must be binding on us, else the Old Testament would be but a shadow of a revelation or law to the Christian. I wish to insist on the lesson supplied merely by the Old Testament, and will not introduce into the argu- ment the consideration of the Apostles' doctrine, which is quite in accordance with it. Yet it may be right, briefly, to refer to the sinless pattern of our Lord, and 1 Ezra ix. 3, 4. 1 82 Jewish Zeal, to what is told us of the holy inhabitants of heaven, in order to show that the temper of mind enjoined on the Jews belongs to those who are in a state of being superior to us, as well as to those who were living under a defective and temporary Dispensation. There was an occasion when our Lord is expressly said to have taken upon Him the zeal which consumed David. " Jesus went up to Jerusalem, and found in the Temple those that sold oxen, and sheep, and doves, and the changers of money, sitting ; and when He had made a scourge of small cords, He drove them all out of the Temple, and the sheep, and the oxen ; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables." Surely, unless we had this account given us by an inspired writer, we should not have believed it ! Influ- enced by notions of our own devising, we should have said, this zealous action of our Lord's was quite incon- sistent with His merciful, meek, and (what may be called) His majestic and serene temper of mind. To put aside form, to dispense with the ministry of His attendant Angels, to act before He had spoken His dis- pleasure, to use His own hand, to hurry to and fro, to be a servant in the work of purification, surely this must have arisen from a fire of indignation at wit- nessing His Father's House insulted, which we sinners cannot understand. But any how, it is but the per- fection of that temper which, as we have seen, was encouraged and exemplified in the Jewish Church. That energy, decision, and severity which Moses en- joined on his people, is manifested in Christ Himself, and is, therefore, undeniably a duty of man as such, A Pattern to Christians. 183 whatever be his place or attainments in the scale of human nature. Such is the pattern afforded us by our Lord; to which add the example of the Angels which sur- round Him. Surely in Him is mingled "goodness and severity ; " such, therefore, are all holy creatures, loving and severe. We read of their thoughts and desires in the Apocalypse, " Fear God, and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment is come." Again, "Thou art righteous, 0 Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because Thou hast judged thus. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and Thou hast given them blood to drink, for they are worthy." And again, "Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are Thy judgments." Once more, "Her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. Eeward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works ; wl — all which passages imply a deep and solemn acquiescence in God's judgments. Thus a certain fire of zeal, showing itself, not by force and blood, but as really and certainly as if it did — cutting through natural feelings, neglecting self, preferring God's glory to all things, firmly resisting sin, protesting against sinners, and steadily contemplat- ing their punishment, is a duty belonging to all crea- tures of God, a duty of Christians, in the midst of all that excellent overflowing charity which is the highest Gospel grace, and the fulfilling of the second table of the Law. 1 Rev. xiv. 7 ; xvi. 5-7 ; xviii. 5, 6. 184 Jewish Zeal, And such, in fact, lias ever been the temper of the Christian Church; in evidence of which I need but appeal to the impressive fact that the Jewish Psalter has been the standard book of Christian devotion from the first down to this day. I wish we thought more of this circumstance. Can any one doubt that, supposing that blessed manual of faith and love had never been in use among us, great numbers of the present genera- tion would have clamoured against it as unsuitable to express Christian feelings, as deficient in charity and kindness ? Nay, do we not know, though I dare say it may surprise many a sober Christian to hear that it is so, that there are men at this moment who (I hardly like to mention it) wish parts of the Psalms left out of the Service as ungentle and harsh ? Alas ! that men of this day should rashly put their own judgment in competition with that of all the Saints of every age hitherto since Christ came — should virtually say, " Either tliey have been wrong or we, are," thus forcing us to decide between the two. Alas ! that they should dare to criticise the words of inspiration ! Alas ! that they should follow the steps of the backsliding Israelites, and shrink from siding with the Truth in its struggle with the world, instead of saying with Deborah, " So let all Thine enemies perish, 0 Lord ! " Now I shall make a few observations in conclusion, with a view of showing how meekness and charity are compatible with this austere and valiant temper of the Christian soldier. 1. Of course it is absolutely sinful to have any pri- vate enmities. Not the bitterest personal assaults upon A Pattern to Christians. 185 us should induce us to retaliate. We must do good for evil, "love those who hate, bless those who curse us, and pray for those who despitefully use us." It is only when it is impossible at once to be kind to them, and give glory to God, that we may cease to act kindly towards them. When David speaks of hating God's enemies, it was under circumstances when keeping friends with them would have been a desertion of the Truth. St. James says, " Know ye not that the friend- ship of the world is enmity with God ?'31 and so, on the other hand, devotion to God's cause is enmity with the world. But no personal feeling must intrude itself in any case. We hate sinners, by putting them out of our sight, as if they were not, by annihilating them, in our affections. And this we must do, even in the case of our friends and relations, if God requires it. But in no case are we to allow ourselves in resentment or malice. 2. ISText, it is quite compatible with the most earnest zeal, to offer, kind offices to God's enemies when in distress. I do not say that a denial of these offices may not be a duty ordinarily ; for it is our duty, as St. John tells us in his second Epistle, not even to receive them into our houses. But the case is very different where men are brought into extremity. God "maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust."2 We must go and do likewise, imitating the good Samaritan; and as he thought nothing of difference of nations when a Jew was in distress, in like manner we must not take 1 James iv. 4. a jy[att> v. 45. 1 86 Jewish Zeal, account of wilful heresy, or profaneness, in such cir- cumstances. 3. And, further, the Christian keeps aloof from sin- ners in order to do them good. He does so in the truest and most enlarged charity. It is a narrow and weak feeling to please a man here, and to endanger his soul A true friend is he who speaks out, and, when a man sins, shows him that he is displeased at the sia; He who sets up no witness against his friend's sin, is "partaker of his evil deeds."1 The Psalmist speaks in this spirit, when, after praying to God " to persecute " the ungodly " with His tempest," he adds, " fill their faces with shame, that they may seek Thy name, 0 Lord."2 Accordingly, the more zealous a Christian is, there- fore is he the more charitable. The Israelite, when he entered Canaan, was told to spare neither old nor young ; the weak and the infirm were to be no excep- tion in the list of victims whose blood was to be shed. " Of the cities of these people, which the Lord thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth." 3 Accordingly, when the people fought against Sihon, they "took all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed the men, and the women, and the little ones of every city," they " left none to remain."4 And when Jericho was taken, "they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword."5 What an awful office was this, * 2 John 11. 2 Ps. Ixxxiii. 16. 3 Dent. xx. 16. 4 Deut. ii. 34. 6 Josh. vi. 21. A Pattern to Christians. 187 what an unutterably heart-piercing task, almost enough to make a man frantic, except as upheld by the power of Him who gave the command ! Yet Moses, thus severely-minded to do God's will, was the meekest of men. Samuel, too, who sent Saul to slay in Amalek "man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass," was, from his youth up, the wise and heavenly-minded guide and prophet of Israel David, who had a fiery zeal, so as even to consume him, was (as we see by his Psalms) most tender-hearted and gentle in his feelings and thoughts. Doubtless, while the servants of God executed His judgments, they still could bend in pity and in hope over the young and old whom they slew with the sword — merciful amid their severity — an unspeakable trial, doubtless, of faith and self-mastery, and requiring a very exalted and refined spirit successfully to undergo. Doubtless, as they slew those who suffered for the sins of their fathers, their thoughts turned, first to the fall of Adam, next to that unseen state where all inequalities are righted, and they surrendered themselves as instruments unto the Lord, of mysteriously working out good through evil And shall we faint at our far lesser trials when they bore the greater ? Spared the heavy necessity of pierc- ing with the spear of Phinehas, and of hewing Agag in Gilgal — allowed to take instead of inflicting suffering and " to make a difference" instead of an indiscriminate severity — shall we, like cowards, shrink from bearing our lighter burdens, which our Lord commands, and in which He sets us the pattern ? Shall we be perversely persuaded by the appearance of amiableness or kindness 1 88 Jewish Zeal, in those whom God's word bids us depart from as heretics, or profligate livers, or troublers of the Church ? Joseph could speak strangely to his brethren, and treat them as spies, put one of them in prison, and demand another from Canaan, while he hardly refrained himself in doing so, and his bowels yearned over them ; and by turns he punished them, and wept for them. Oh, that there was in us this high temper of mingled austerity and love ! Barely do we conceive of severity by itself, and of kindness by itself; but who unites them ? We think we cannot be kind without ceasing to be severa Who is there that walks through the world, wounding according to the rule of zeal, and scattering balm freely in the fulness of love; smiting as a duty, and healing as a privilege ; loving most when he seems sternest, and embracing them most tenderly whom in semblance he treats roughly? What a state we are in, when any one who rehearses the plain threats of our Lord and His Apostles against sinners, or ven- tures to defend the anathemas of His Church, is thought unfeeling rather than merciful ; when they who separate from the irreligious world are blamed as fanciful and extravagant, and those who confess the truth, as it is in Jesus, are said to be bitter, hot of head, and intemperate ! Yet, with God's grace, with the history of the Old Testa- ment before us, and the fearful recompense, to warn us, which came upon backsliding Israel, we, the Ministers of Christ, dare not keep silence amid this great error. In behalf of Christ, our Saviour and Lord, who yielded up His precious life for us, and now feeds us with His own blood, for the sake of the souls whom He has A Pattern to Christians. 189 redeemed, and whom, by a false and cruel charity, the world would keep in ignorance and sin, we cannot refrain ; and if His Holy Spirit be with us, as we trust He is, whatever betides, whatever is coming on .this country, speak the truth we will, and overcome in our speaking we must ; for He has given us to overcome 1 SEEMON XIV. . SUBMISSION TO CHURCH AUTHORITY. PEOV. iv. 24-27. " Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee. Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be estab- lished. Turn not to the right hand nor to the left : remove thy foot from evil." T)KECEPTS such as these come home with the force •*- of truth, even to minds which fain would resist them, from their seriousness and practical wisdom, putting aside the authority of inspiration. At no time and under no circumstances are they without their ap- plication ; at the present time, when religious unity and peace are so lamentably disregarded, and novel doctrines and new measures alone are popular, they naturally remind us of the duty of obedience to the Church, and of the sin of departing from it, or what our Litany prays against under the name of "heresy and schism." It may seem out of place to speak of this sin here, because those who commit it are not likely to be in Church to profit by what might be said about it; yet the com- mission of it affects even those who do not commit it, by making them indifferent to it. Tor this reason, and Submission to Church Authority. 191 because it is right that even such persons as are firmest in their adherence to the Church should know why they adhere to it, I will consider some of the popular objections which are made to such adherence, by those who account it, not sinful indeed (though many go even this length), but unnecessary. You know time was when there was but one vast body of Christians, called the Church, throughout the world. It was found in every country where the name of Christ was named ; it was everywhere governed in the same way by Bishops ; it was everywhere descended from the Apostles through the line of those Bishops ; and it was everywhere in perfect peace and unity together, branch with branch, all over the world. Thus it fulfilled the prophecy: "Jerusalem is builded as a city that is compact together : for there are set Thrones of judgment, the Thrones of the House of David." x There were, indeed, separatists and dissenters, then as now, but they were many and various, not one body like the Church ; they were short-lived, had a beginning after the Apostles, and came to an end, first one and then another. But now all this beauty of Jerusalem is miserably defaced. That vast Catholic body, " the Holy Church throughout all the world," is broken into many fragments by the power of the Devil ; just as some huge barrier cliff which once boldly fronted the sea is at length cleft, parted, overthrown by the waves. Some portions of it are altogether gone, and those that remain are separated from each other. We are the English Catholics; abroad are the Roman Catholics, some of 1 Ps. cxxii. 3, 5. 192 Submission to Chiirch Authority. whom are also among ourselves; elsewhere are the Greek Catholics, and so on. And thus we stand in this day of rebuke and blasphemy — clinging to our own portion of the Ancient Bock which the waters are roaring round and would fain overflow — trusting in God — looking for the dawn of day, which "will at length come and will not tarry," when God will save us from the rising floods, if we have courageously kept our foot- ing where He has placed us, neither yielding to the violence of the waves which sweep over us, nor lis- tening to the crafty invitations of those who offer us an escape in vessels not of God's building. Now I am going to notice and refute some of the bad arguments by which the children of this world convey their invitation, 1. First they say, "Why keep so strictly to one body of Christians when there are so many other bodies also — so many denominations, so many persuasions — all soldiers of Christ, like so many different armies, all advancing in one cause against one enemy? Surely this exclusive attachment to one party," so they speak, " to the neglect of other Christians who profess a like doctrine, and only differ in forms, is the sign of a narrow and illiberal mind. Christianity is an universal gift ; why then limit its possession to one set of men and one kind of Church government, instead of allow- ing all who choose to take it to themselves in any way they please ?" Now surely those who thus speak should begin with answering Scripture, not questioning us ; for Scripture certainly recognizes but "one body" of Christians as Submission to Church Authority. 193 explicitly as " one Spirit, one faith, one Lord, and one God and Father of all/'1 As far as the text of Scripture goes, it is as direct a contradiction of it to speak of more than one body as to speak of more than one Spirit. On the other hand, Scripture altogether contemplates the existence of persuasions, as they are fitly called, round about this one body, for it speaks of them ; but it does not hint ever so faintly that, because they exist, there- fore they must be acknowledged. So much the contrary, that it says, " There must be heresies," that is private persuasions, self-formed bodies, " among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you." Again, "A man that is a heretic," that is, one who adopts some opinion of his own in religious matters, and gets about him followers, " after the first and second admonition, reject." And again, "Mark them which cause divisions, and avoid them."2 Now, we are of those who, in accordance with these directions, have done our best to keep clear of such human doctrines and private opinions, adhering to that one Body Catholic which alone was founded by the Apostles, and will last till the end of all things. And it is surely better thus implicitly to believe and obey God's voice in Scripture than to reason ; it is more tolerable to be called narrow- minded by man, than to be pronounced self-wise and self-sufficient by God ; it is happier to be thought over- scrupulous, with the Bible, than to have the world's praise for liberality without it. But again, who is bold enough to say that "it would "be a narrow and niggardly appointment, were the bless- 1 Eph. iv. 4-6. 2 1 Cor. xi. 19 ; Tit. iii. 10 j Kom. xvi. 17. [Ill] N 194 Submission to Church Authority. ings of the Gospel stored up in one body or set of j>ersons to the exclusion of others ?" Let him see to it, how he opposes God's universal scheme of provi- dence which we see before our eyes. Christianity is a blessing for the whole earth — granted ; but it does not therefore follow (to judge from what we otherwise know of God's dealings with us) that none have been specially commissioned to dispense the blessing. Mercies given to multitudes are not less mercies because they are made to flow from particular sources. Indeed, most of the great appointments of Divine goodness are marked by this very character of what men call exclusiveness. God distributes numberless benefits to all men, but He does so through a few select instruments. The few are favoured for the good of the many. "Wealth, power, gifts of mind, learning, all tend towards the welfare of the community; yet, for all that, they are not given at once to all, but channelled out to the many through the few. And so the blessings of the Gospel are open to the whole world, as freely given as light or fire ; yet even light has had its own receptacle since the fourth day of creation, and fire has been hidden in the flinty rock, as if to show us that the light and fire of our souls are not gained without the use of means, nor except from special sources. Again, as to the Ministerial Succession being a form, and adherence to it a form, it can only be called a form because we do not see its effects : did anything visible attend it, we should no longer call it a form. Did a miracle always follow a baptism or a return into the Church, who would any longer call it a form ? that is, Submission to Church Authority. 195 we call it a form, only so long as we refuse to walk "by faith, which dispenses with things visible. Faith sees things not to be forms, if commanded, which seem like forms ; it realizes consequences. Men ignorant in the sciences would predict no result from chemical and the like experiments ; they would count them a form and a pretence. What is prayer but a form ? that is, who (to speak generally) sees anything come of it? But we believe it, and so are blessed. In what sense is adherence to the Church a form in which prayer is not also ? The benefit of the one is not seen, nor of the other ; the one will not profit the ungodly and careless, nor will the other ; the one is commanded in Scripture, so is the other. Therefore, to say that Church-union is a form, is no disparagement of it ; forms are the very food of faith. 2. However, it may be argued, that, " whatever was the cause, and whatever was intended by Divine Pro- vidence, many sects there are ;" and that, " if unity be a duty, as members of the Church maintain, the best, the only way to effect it now, is for them to relax their strictness and join in one with all sects upon whatever terms." I answer by asking, whether we have any leave so to do, any commission to alter any part of what God has appointed; whether we might not as well pretend to substitute another ordinance for Baptism as to annul the rights of the Church Catholic, and put human societies and teachers of man's creating on a level with it ? Even Balaam felt what was the power of a Divine appointment. " He hath blessed," he says, " and I cannot reverse it" Even holy Isaac, much as 196 Submission to Churth Authority * he wished it, could not change the course of the blessing once conferred, or the decree of God. He cried out con- cerning Jacob, " yea, and he shall be blessed ;" for " it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth," " not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man," " but of God that showeth mercy." " The gifts and calling of God are without repentance." x Men, who have themselves separated from the Church, sometimes urge a union among all Christians in the following way : they say, " We dissent from you ; yet we will cast aside our forms if you will cast aside yours. Thus there will be mutual concession. What are forms, so that our hearts are one ? " Kay, but there is not, there cannot be, a like heart and spirit, from the very nature of the case, between us and them, for obedience to the Church is one part of our spirit. Those who think much of submission to her authority, as we do, plainly do differ in spirit from those who think little of it. Such persons, then, however well they mean it, yet, in fact, ask us to give up something, while they give up nothing themselves; for that is not much to give up which a man sets no value upon. All they give up is what they themselves disparage by calling it a form. They call our holy discipline also a form, but we, do not : and "it is not a mere form in our judgments, though it may be in theirs. They call it a human invention, just as they call their own ; but, till we call it so also, till they have first convinced us that it is, it must be a sacrifice in us to give it up, such as 1 Numb, xxiii. 20 ; Gen. xxvii. 33 ; Rom. ix. 16 j John i. 13 ; Horn. xi. 29. Submission to Church Aiithority. 197 they cannot possibly make. They cannot make such sacrifice, because they have made it already, or their fathers before them, when they left the Church. They cannot make it, for they have no affections to sacrifice in the matter; whereas our piety, our reverence, our faith, our love adhere to the Church of the Apostles, and could not (were desertion possible, which God forbid !) could not be torn away from it without many wounds and much anguish. Surely, then, it is craft, or over simplicity in those who differ from us thus to speak. They strip themselves of what we consider an essential of holiness, the decencies and proprieties of the Ancient Rule. Then, being unclothed, they are forced to array themselves in new forms and ordinances, as they best may ; and these novelties, which their own hands have sewed together to cover them, which they never revered, and which are soon to wither, they purpose (as though) to sacrifice to us, provided we, on our part, will cast from us the Lord's own clothing, that sanctity and sobriety of order, which is the gift of Christ, the earnest of His imputed merits, the type and the effectual instrument of His work in our hearts. This, truly, would be exchanging the fine gold for brass ; or, like unthankful Esau, bartering our enduring birth- right for an empty and transitory benefit. ' 3. But the argument is continued. " Well," it may be said, " even granting that obedience to the Church be a Scripture duty, still, when there are erroneous teachers in it, surely it is a higher duty to desert them for their error's sake than to keep to them for form's sake." Now, before this question can be answered, the Submission to Church Authority. error must be specified which this or that teacher holds. The plain and practical question we have to decide is, whether his error be such as to suspend his power of administering the Sacraments. It must be deadly indeed and monstrous to effect this ; and, surely, this ministry of the Sacraments, not of the outward word — of the spirit, not of the letter — is his principal power and our principal need. It is our interest, it is our soul's interest, that we keep to those who minister divine benefits, even though they " offend in many things." And it is plainly our duty also. If they be in error, let us pray for them, not abandon them. If they sin against us, let not us sin against them. Let us return good for evil. Thus David acted even towards Saul his persecutor. He "behaved himself wisely in all his ways ; and the Lord was with Him." * The cruelty of Saul was an extreme case ; yet David's "eyes looked right on," and "he turned not to the right hand nor the left." He still honoured Saul, as put over him by Almighty God. So ought we, in St. Paul's words, to " obey them that have the rule over us, and submit ourselves." In truth, the notion that errors in a particular teacher justify separation from the Church itself, is founded in a mistake as to the very object (as it may be considered) for which teaching was com- mitted to it. If individual teachers were infallible, there would be no need of order and rule at all. If we had a living Head upon earth, such as once our Saviour was with His disciples, teaching and directing us in all things, the visible Church might so far be dispensed 1 1 Sam. xviii. 14. Submission to Church Authority. 199 with. But, since we have not, a form of doctrine, a system, of laws, a bond of subordination connecting all in one, is the next best mode of securing the stability of sacred Truth. The whole body of Christians thus become the trustees of it, to use the language of the world, and, in fact, have thus age after age transmitted it down to ourselves. Thus, teachers have been bound to teach in one way not in another, as well as hearers to hear. As, then, we have a share in the advantage, let us not complain of sharing in the engagement; as we enjoy the truth at this day by the strictness of those who were before us, let us not shrink from undergoing that through which we have inherited it. If hearers break the rule of discipline, why should not teachers break the rule of faith ? and if we find fault with our teacher, even while he is restrained by the Church's rule, how much greater would be our complaint when he was not so restrained ? Let us not, then, be im- patient of an appointment which effects so much, on the ground that it does not effect all. Let us not forget that rules presuppose the risk of error, but rather reflect whether they do not do more than they fail to do. Let us be less selfish than to think of ourselves only. Let us look out upon the whole community, the poor, the ignorant, the wayward, and the mistaken. Let us consider whether it will be prudent to become responsible for the Church's ultimately withdrawing from our land, which we shall be (as far as in us lies) by our withdrawing from it. 4 But it may be said, "Faith is not a matter of words, but of the heart. It is more than the formal doctrine, 200 Submission to Church Authority. it is the temper and spirit of this or that teacher which is wrong. His creed may be orthodox, but his religion is not vital ; and surely external order must not lie upon ois as a burden, stifling and destroying the true inward fellowship between Christian and Christian." Now let it be carefully noted, that if order is to be preserved at all, it must be at the expense of what seems to be of more consequence, viz., the so-called communion of the heart between Christians. This peculiarity is involved in its very nature ; and surely our Saviour knew this when He enjoined it. Tor consider a moment. True spiritual feeling, heartfelt devotion, lively faith, and the like, do not admit of being described, defined, ascer- tained in any one fixed way ; as is implied indeed in the very objection under consideration. We form our judgment of them, whatever it be, by a number of little circumstances, of language, manner, and conduct, which cannot be put into words, which to no two beholders appear exactly the same, insomuch that if every one is to be satisfied, every one must have the power of draw- ing his line for himself. But if every one follow his own rule of fellowship, how can there possibly be but " one body," and in what sense are those words of the Apostle to be taken ? Again, this or that person may be more or less religious in speech and conduct ; how are we to draw the line, even according to our own individual standard, and say who are to be in our Church and who out of it ? Scan- dalous offenders indeed and open heretics might be excluded at once; but it would be far easier to say whom to put out than whom to let in, unless we let in Submission to Church Authority. 201 all From the truest "believer to the very infidel there may be interposed a series of men, more or less religious, in human eyes, gradually filling up the whole interval. Even if we would infallibly decide between good and bad, life would be spent in the work ; what our success really will be, may be foretold from the instances of those who attempt to do so, and who not ^infrequently mistake for highly-gifted Christians men who are almost unbelievers. But, granting we have some extraordinary gift of discernment, still any how we could not see more than He sees, who implies that the faith of all of us is but immature and in its rudiments, by His very postponement of the final judgment ; — so that to draw a line at all, and yet to include just all who seem religious, are things of necessity incompatible with each other. On the other hand, forms are precise and definite. Once broken, they are altogether broken. There are no degrees of breaking them ; either they are observed or they are not. It seems, then, on the whole, that if we leave the Church, in order to join what appears a less formal, a more spiritual, religion elsewhere, we break a commandment for certain, and we do not for certain secure to ourselves a benefit. 5. Lastly, it may be asked, "Are we then to keep aloof from those whom we think good men, granting that it would be better that they should be in the Church ? " We need not, we must not, keep aloof. We are not bound, indeed, to court their society, but we are bound not to shrink from them when we fall in with them, except, indeed, they be the actual authors and fomenters of division. We are bound to love them 2O2 Submission to Church Authority. and pray for them ; not to be harsh with them, or revile or despise them, but to be gentle, patient, apt to teach, merciful, to make allowance, to interpret their conduct for the best. We would, if we could, be one with them in heart and in form, thinking a loving unity the glory and crown of Christian faith ; and we will try all means to effect this ; but we feel, and we cannot conceal it, we feel that, if we and they are to be one, they must come over to us. We desire to meet together, but it must be in the Church, not on neutral ground, or rather an enemy's, the open inhospitable waste of this world, but within that sheltered heritage whose land-marks have long since been set up. If Christ has consti- tuted one Holy Society (which He has done) ; if His Apostles have set it in order (which they did), and have expressly bidden us (as they have in Scripture) not to undo what they have begun ; and if (in matter of fact) their Work so set in order and so blessed is among us this very day (as it is), and we partakers of it, it were a traitor's act in us to abandon it, an unthankful slight on those who have preserved it for so many ages, a cruel disregard of those who are to come after us, nay of those now alive who are external to it and might otherwise be brought into it. We must transmit as we have received. We did not make the Church, we may not unmake it. As we believe it to be a Divine Ordinance, so we must ever protest against separa- tion from it as a sin. There is not a dissenter living, but, inasmuch and so far as he dissents, is in a sin. It may, in this or that instance, be a sin of infirmity, or carelessness, nay of ignorance ; it may be a sin of Submission to Church Authority. 203 the society to which a man belongs, not his own, a cere- monial offence, not a personal ; still it is in its nature sinful. It may be mixed up with much that is good ; it may be a perversion of conscience, or again, an in- consistency in him ; it may be connected more or less with piety towards his forefathers ; still, considered as such, it cannot but be a blemish and a disadvantage, and, if he is saved, he will be saved, not through it, but in spite of it. So far forth as he dissents, he is under a cloud ; and though we too may, for what we know, have as great sins to answer for, taking his sin at the greatest, and though we pray that Christ will vouch- safe, in some excellent way, known to Himself, to "perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle," all "who love Him uncorruptly," even if separate from the glories of His Church on earth, still protest we should and must against separation itself, and wilful continuance in it, as evil — as nothing short of " the gainsaying of Core," and the true child of that sin which lost us Eden. Nor does the sin of separation end in itself. Never suppose, my brethren, whatever the world may say, that a man is neither better nor worse, in his own faith and conduct, for separating from the Church. Of course we cannot "try the heart and the reins," or decide about individuals; still, this much seems clear, that, on the whole, deliberate insubordination is the symp- tom, nay, often the cause and first beginning of an unhumbled, wilful, self-dependent, contentious, jealous spirit ; and, as far as any man allows himself in acts of it, so far has he upon him the tokens of pride or of coldness of heart, going before or following after. Cold- 204 Submission to CJmrcJi Authority. ness and pride — these sins are not peculiar, alas, to those who leave us ; that we know full well. We all have the seeds of them within us, and it is our shame and condemnation if we do not repress them. But between us, if we be cold or proud, and those who are active in dissent, there is this clear difference — that proud reliance on self, or that cold formality, which may also be found in the Church, these, though found in it, are not fruits of it, do not rise from connection with it, but are inconsistent with it. Tor to obey is to be meek, not proud ; and to obey, for Christ's sake, is to be zealous, not cold ;• whereas, wilful separation or turbulent conduct, forming religious meetings of our own, opposing our private judgment to those who have the rule over us, disaffection towards them, and the like feelings and courses, are the very effects and the sure forerunners of pride, or impatience, or restlessness, or self-will, or lukewarmness ; so that these sins in mem- bers of the Church are in spite of the Church, but in separatists are involved in their separating. " Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee. Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. Turn not to the right hand, nor to the left; remove thy foot from evil" What have we, private Christians, to do with hopes and fears of earth, with schemes of change, the pursuit of novelties, or dreams of reforms ? The world is passing like a shadow ; the day of Christ is hastening on. It is our wisdom, surely, to use what has been provided for us, instead of lusting after what Submission to Church Authority. 205 we have not, asking flesh to eat, and gazing wistfully upon Egypt, or on the heathen around us. Faith has no leisure to act the busy politician, to bring the world's language into the sacred fold, or to use the world's jealousies in a divine polity, to demand rights, to flatter the many, or to court the powerful. What is faith's highest wish and best enjoyment ? A dying saint shall answer. It is related of a meek and holy confessor of Our own, shortly before his departure, that when, after much pain, he was asked by a friend, "What more special thing he would recommend for one's whole life ?" he briefly replied, "uniform obedience" by which he meant, as his biographer tells us, that the happiest state of life was one in which we had not to command or direct, but to oley solely; not having to choose for ourselves, but having our path of duty, our mode of life, our fortunes marked out for us.1 This lot, indeed, as is plain, cannot be the lot of all ; but it is the lot of the many. Thus God pours out His blessings largely, and puts trial on the few ; but men do not understand their own gain, and run into trials as being unfit for enjoyment. May He give us grace to cherish a wiser mind, to make much of our privilege, if we have it, to serve and be at rest ; and, if we have it not, to covet it, and to bear dutifully as but a misfortune to a sinner, that freedom from restraint which the world boasts in as a chief good ! 1 Fell's " Life of Hammond." SERMON XV. CONTEST BETWEEN TEUTH AND FALSEHOOD IN THE CHUKCH. MATT. xiii. 47, 48. "The kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea. and gathered of every kind : which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. " TIST the Apostle's age, the chief contest between Truth and Falsehood lay in the war waged by the Church against the world, and the world against the Church — the Church, the aggressor in the name of the Lord ; the world, stung with envy and malice, rage and pride, retaliating spiritual weapons with carnal, the Gospel with persecution, good with evil, in the cause of the Devil. But of the conflict within the Church, such as it is at this day, Christians knew comparatively little. True, the Prophetic Spirit told them that "even of their ownselves should men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them;" that "in •the last days perilous times should come."1 Also they had the experience of their own and former times to show them, as in type, that in the Church evil will 1 Acts xx. 30 ; 2 Tiin. iii. 1. Contest between Truth and Falsehood. 207 always mingle with the good. Thus, at the flood, there were eight men in the Ark, and one of them was reprobate; out of twelve Apostles, one was a devil; out of seven Deacons, one (as it is said) fell away into heresy; out of twelve tribes, one is dropped at the final sealing. These intimations, however, whether by instance or prophecy, were not sufficient to realize to them, before the event, the serious and awful truth implied in the text, viz. — that the warfare which Christ began between his little flock and the world should be in no long while transferred into the Church itself, and be carried on by members of that Church one with another. This, I say, the early Christians did not see fulfilled, as our eyes see it ; and so hard is it to possess ourselves of a true conviction about it, that even at this day, when it may be plainly seen, men will not see it. They will not so open and surrender their minds to Divine truth, as to admit that the Holy Church has unholy members, that blessings are given to the un- worthy, that " the Kingdom of Heaven is like a net that gathers of every kind." They evade this mysterious appointment in various ways. Sometimes they deny that bad men are really in God's Church, which they think consists only of good men. They have invented an Invisible Church, distinct and complete at present, and peopled by saints only, — as if Scripture said one word, anywhere, of a spiritual body existing in this world separate from, and independent of, the Visible Church; and they consider the Visible Church to be nothing but a mere part of this world, an establish- 208 Contest between Triith and ment, sect, or party. Or, again, while they admit it as a Divine ordinance, they lower its standard of faith and holiness, and its privileges ; and, considering the com- munion of saints to be but a name, and all Christians to be about alike, they effectually destroy all notions, whether of a Church or of a conflict. Thus, in one way or other, they refuse to admit the idea, contained in the text, that the dissimilitude, the enmity, and the warfare which once existed between the world and the Church, is now transferred into the Church itself. But let us try, with God's blessing, to get a firm hold upon this truth, and see if we cannot draw some instruc- tion from it. The text says, that "the Kingdom, of Heaven," that is, the Christian Church, " is like unto a net that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every land." Elsewhere St. Paul says, "In a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth ; and some to honour, and some to dishonour."1 Now, passages such as these admit of a very various application. I shall consider them here with reference to the contest between Truth and False* hood in the Church. Doubtless, in the eye of natural reason, it would be a privilege, were the enemies of Christ and of our souls separated from us, and did the trial of our faith take place on some broad questions, about which there could be no mistake ; but such is not the fact " in the wisdom of God." Faith and unbelief, humbleness and pride, love and selfishness, have been from the Apostles' age united in one and the same body ; nor can any means 1 2 Tim. ii. 20. Falsehood in the Church. 209 of man's device disengage the one from the other. All who are within the Church have the same privileges ; they are all baptized, all admitted to the Holy Eucha- rist, all taught in the Truth, all profess the Truth. At all times, indeed, there have been those who have avowed corrupt doctrine or indulged themselves in open vice ; and whom, in consequence, it was easy to detect and avoid. But these are few ; the great body in the Christian Church profess one and the same faith, and seem one and all to agree together. Yet, among these persons, thus apparently unanimous, is the real invete- rate conflict proceeding, as from the beginning, between good and eviL Some of these are wise, some foolish. Who belong to the one, and to the other party, is hid from us, and will be hid till the day of judgment ; nor are they at present individually formed upon the per- fect model of good or evil ; they vary one with another in the degree and mode of their holding to the one or the other ; but that there are two parties in the Church, two parties, however vague and indefinite their out- lines, among those who live, in one sense, as familiar friends, I mean, who eat the same spiritual Food, and profess the same Creed, is certain. Next, what do they contend about ? how and where is their conflict ? The Apostles contended about the truth of the Gospel with unbelievers ; their immediate succes- sors contended, though within the Church, yet against open heresies, such as they could meet, confute, and cast out ; but in after times, in our own day, now, what do the two secret parties in the Church, the elect and the false-hearted, what do they contend about ? [ni] 0 2io Contest between Truth and It is difficult to answer this question suitably with the reverence due to this sacred place, in which the language of the world should not be heard. Yet, in so important a matter, one would wish to say something. That contest, which was first about the truth of the Gospel itself, next about the truth of doctrine, is now commonly about very small matters, of an every-day character, of public affairs, or domestic business, or parochial concerns, which serve as tests of our religious state quite as truly as greater things, in God's unerring judgment — serve as powerfully to form and train us for heaven or for hell I say, that as the early Christians were bound to " contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints," so the trial of our obedience commonly lies in taking this or that side in a multitude of ques- tions, in which there happen to be two sides, and which come before us almost continually ; and, before attempting to explain what I mean, I would have you observe how parallel this state of things is to God's mode of trying and disciplining us in other respects. Tor instance, how is our devotion to Christ shown ? Ordinarily, not in great matters, not in giving up house and lands for His sake, but in making little sacrifices which the world would ridicule, if it knew of them ; in abridging ourselves of comforts for the sake of the poor, in sacrificing our private likings to religious objects, in going to Church at a personal inconvenience, in taking pleasure in the society of religious men, though not rich, or noble, or accomplished, or gifted, or enter- Falsehood in the Church. 211 taining ; in matters, all of them of very little moment in themselves. How is self-denial shown ? Not in literally bearing Christ's Cross, and living on locusts and wild honey, but in such light abstinences as come in our way, ik some poor efforts at fasting and the like, in desiring to be poor rather than rich, solitary or lowly rather thar> well-connected, in living within our income, in avoiding display, in being suspicious of comforts and luxuries ; all of which are too trifling for the person observing them to think about, yet have their use in proving and improving his heart. How is Christian valour shown? Not in resisting unto blood, but in withstanding mistaken kindness, in enduring importunity, in not shrinking from surprising and hurting those we love, in undergoing little losses, inconveniences, censures, slights, rather than betray what we believe to be God's Truth, be it ever so small a portion of it. As then Christian devotion, self-denial, courage, are tried in this day in little things, so is Christian faith also. In the Apostles' age faith was shown in the great matter of joining either the Church, or the pagan or Jewish multitude. It is shown in this day by taking this side or that side in the many questions of opinion and conduct which come before us, whether domestic, or parochial, or political, or of whatever kind. Take the most unlettered peasant in the humblest village ; his trial lies in acting for the Church or against it in his own place. He may happen to be at work with others, or taking refreshment with others ; and he 212 Contest between Trtith and may hear religion spoken against, or the Church, or the King ; he may hear voices raised together in scoffing or violence ; he must withstand laugh and jest, evil words and rudeness, and witness for Christ. Thus he carries on, in his day, the eternal conflict between Truth and Falsehood. Another, in a higher class of society, has a certain influence in parish matters, in the application of charities, the appointment of officers, and the like ; he, too, must act, as in God's sight, for the Truth's sake, as Christ would have him. Another has a certain political power; he has a vote to bestow, or dependents to advise; he has a voice to raise, and substance to contribute. Let him act for religion, not as if there were not a God in the world. My brethren, I must not venture to keep silence in respect to a province of Christian duty, in which men are especially tried at this day, and in which they especially fail It is sometimes said that religion is not (what is called) political. Now there is a bad sense of the word "political," and religion is nothing that is bad. But there is also a good sense of the word, and in this sense whoever says that religion is not political speaks as erringly, and (whether ignorantly or not) offends with his tongue as certainly, as if in St. Paul's time a man had said it mattered not whether he was Christian or heathen ; for what the question of Christian or no Christian was in the Apostle's day, such are questions of politics now. It is as right to take one side, and as Falsehood in the Church. 213 wrong to take the other, now, in that multitude of matters which comes before us of a social nature, as it was right to become a Christian in St. Paul's day, and wrong to remain a heathen. I am not saying which side is right and which is wrong, in the ever- varying course of social duty, much less am I saying that all religious people are on one side and all irreligious on the other (for then would that division between good and evil take place, which the text and other parables assure us is not to be till the Day of Judgment) ; I only say there is a right and a wrong, that it is not a matter of indifference which side a man takes, that a man will be judged hereafter for the side he takes. When a man (for instance) says that he takes part against the King or against the Church, because he thinks kingly power or established Churches contrary to Scripture, I think him as far from the truth as light is from darkness ; but I understand him. He takes a religious ground, and, whatever I may think of his doctrine, I praise him for that. I had rather he should take a religious ground (if in sincerity) and be against the Church, than a worldly selfish ground, and be for it; that is, if done in earnest, not in pretence, I think it speaks more hopefully for his soul. I had rather the Church were levelled to the ground by a nation, really, honestly, and seriously, thinking they did God service in doing so (fearful indeed as the sin would be), than that it should be upheld by a nation on the mere ground of maintaining property, for I think this a much greater sin. I think that the worshipper of mammon will be 214 Contest between Truth and in worse case before Christ's Judgment-seat than the mistaken zealot. If a man must be one or the other (though he ought to be neither), but if I must choose for him, I had rather he should be Saul raging like a wild beast against the Church, than Gallic caring for none of these things, or Demas loving the present world, or Simon trafficking with sacred gifts, or Ananias grudging Christ his substance, and seeking to be saved as cheaply as possible. There w^ould be more chance of such a man's conversion to the Truth ; and, if not con- verted, less punishment reserved for him at the Last Day. Our Lord says to the Church of Laodicea, "I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will cast thee from My mouth!"1 Men, however, generally act from mixed motives ; so I do not mean that they are at once in a fearful peril, or as bad as fanatical revolutionists, for having some regard to the security of property, while they defend what is called the Church Established; — far from it, though I still think it would be better if the thought of religion absorbed all other considerations : — but I am speaking against an avowed doctrine maintained in this day, that religion has nothing to do with political matters ; which will not be true till it is true that God does not govern the world, for as God rules in human affairs, so must His servants obey in them. And what we have to fear more than anything else at this time is, that persons who are sound on this point, and do believe that the concerns of the nation ought to be carried on 1 Rev. iii. 15, 16. Falsehood in the Church. 215 on religious principles, should be afraid to avow it, and should ally themselves, without protesting, with those who deny it ; lest they should keep their own opinion to themselves, and act with the kindred of Gallio, Demas, Simon, and Ananias, on some mere secular basis, the mere defence of property, the security of our institutions, considered merely as secular, the mainte- nance of our national greatness ; forgetting that, as no man can serve two masters, God and mammon, so no man can at once be in the counsels of the servants of the two ; — forgetting that the Church, in which they and others are, is a net gathering of every kind ; that it is no proof that others are to be followed and supported in all things, because they happen to be in it and pro- fess attachment to it ; and that though we are bound to associate in a general way with all (except, indeed, such as openly break the rules of the Church, heretics, drunkards, evil livers, and the like, who ought of course to be put out of it), yet we are not bound to countenance all men in all they do, and are ever bound to oppose bad principles — bound to attempt to raise the standard of faith and obedience in that multitude of men whom, though we disapprove in many respects, we dare not affirm to be entirely destitute of the life of the Holy Ghost, and not to suffer friend or stranger to take part against the Truth without warning him of it according to our opportunities. Lastly, this union of the True and the False in the Church, which I have been speaking of, has ever existed in the governing part of it as well as among the people at laro^e. Our Saviour sets this truth before us in the 2i6 Contest between Truth and twenty-third chapter of St. Matthew's gospel, in which He bids His hearers obey their spiritual rulers in all law- ful things, even though they be unworthy of their office, because they hold it — obey " as unto the Lord and not to men." " The Scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses* seat ; all, therefore, whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do : but do not ye after their works, for they say, and do not." And no one can read, ever so little, the history of the Church since He was on earth, without perceiving that, under all the forms of obedience and subordination, of kind offices and social intercourse, which Christ enjoins, a secret contest has been carried on, in the most sacred chambers of the temple, between Truth and Falsehood ; — rightly, peace- ably, lovingly by some, uncharitably by others, with a strange mixture at times of right principles and defective temper, or of sincerity and partial ignorance ; still, on the whole, a contest such as St. John's against Diotrephes, or St. Paul's against Ananias the High Priest, or Timothy's against Hymeneus and Alexander. Meantime, the rules of ecclesiastical discipline have been observed on both sides, as well as the professions of faith, as conditions of the contest ; nevertheless, the contest has proceeded. Now I would have every one who hears me bring what I have said home as a solemn truth to his own mind ; — the solemn truth, that there is nothing indif- ferent in our conduct, no part of it without its duties, no room for trifling, lest we trifle with eternity. It is very common to speak of our political and social privileges as rights, which we may do what we like Falsehood in the Church. 217 with; whereas they merely impose duties on us in God's sight. A man says, " I have a right to do this or that ; I have a right to give my vote here or there ; I have a right to further this or that measure." Doubt- less, you have a right — you have the right of freewill — you have from your birth the birthright of being a free agent, of doing right or wrong, of saving yourself or ruining yourself ; you have the right, that is, you have the power — (to speak plainly) the power to damn your- self ; but (alas !) a poor consolation will it be to you in the next world, to know that your ruin was all your own fault, as brought upon you by yourself — for what you have said comes to nothing more than this ; and be quite sure, men do not lose their souls by some one extraordinary act, but by a course of acts ; and the careless, or rather, the self -sufficient and haughty- minded use of your political power, this way or that, at your pleasure, which is now so common, is among those acts by which men save or lose them. The young man whom Solomon speaks of, thought he had a right to indulge his lusts, or, as the rich man in the Gospel, to " take his ease, eat, drink, and be merry ; " but the preacher says to him, " Eejoice, 0 young man in thy youth ; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes : but know thou, for all these things God will bring thee into judgment."1 So, again, many a man, when warned against the sin of leaving the Church, or of wandering about from one place of worship to another, says, " he has a right to 1 Eccles. xi. 9. 218 Contest between Truth and do so." So it is, he has a strange notion that it is an Englishman's right to think what he will, and do what he will, in matters of religion. Nay, it is the right of the whole world, not ours alone ; it is the attribute of all rational beings to have a right to do wrong, if they will Yet, after all, there is but one right way, and there a hundred wrong ways. You may do as you will; but the first who exercised that right was the devil when he fell ; and every one of us, when he does this or that in matters between himself and his God, merely because he wills it, and not for conscience* sake, is (so far) following the devil's pattern. Now let us put aside these vain fancies, and look at our position steadily. Every one of us here assembled is either a vessel of mercy or a vessel of wrath fitted to destruction ; or rather, I should say, will be such at the Last Day, and now is acting towards the one or the other. "We cannot judge each other, we cannot judge ourselves. We only know about ourselves whether or no we are in some measure trying to serve God ; we know He has loved us and " blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Christ," and desires our salvation. We know about others around us that they too have been blessed by the same Saviour, and are to be looked on as our brethren, till, by word or deed, they openly renounce their brotherhood. Still it is true that the solemn pro- cess of separation between bad and good is ever going on. The net has at present gathered of every kind. At the end of the world will be the final division; meanwhile there is a gradual sorting and sifting, silent but sure, towards it. It is also true that all the matters Falsehood in the Church. 219 which come before us in the course of life are trials of our faith, and instruments of our purification. It is also true that certain principles and actions are right and others wrong. It is true, moreover, that our part lies in finding out what is right, and observing and con- tending for it. And without judging of our brethren's state, and, again, without being over-earnest about little matters, it is our duty plainly to witness against others when we think them wrong, and to impress our serious- ness upon them by our very manner towards them ; lest we suffer sin in them, and so become partakers of it. If all this be true, may God Himself, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, enable us heartily to act upon it! May He give us that honesty and simplicity of mind, which looks at things as He views them, realizes what is unseen, puts aside all the shadows and mists of pride, party-feeling, or covetousness ; and not only knows and does what is right, but does it because it knows it, and that not from mere reason and on grounds of argument, but from the heart itself, with that inward and pure sense, and scrupulous fear, and keen faith, and generous devotion, which does not need arguments, except as a means of strengthening itself, and of per- suading and satisfying others. SERMON XVI. t THE CHURCH VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE. 2 TIM. ii. 20. " In a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, "but also of wood and of earth ; and some to honour, and some to dishonour." ~TN these words St. Paul speaks of the Church as con- -*- taining within it good and bad, after our Saviour's pattern, who, in the parables of the Net and of the Tares, had, from the first, announced the same serious truth. That Holy House which Christ formed in order to be the treasury and channel of His grace to man- kind, over which His Apostles presided at the first, and after them others whom they appointed, was, even from their time, the seat of unbelief and unholiness as well as of true religion. Even among the Apostles them- selves, one was " a devil." No wonder then that ever since, whether among the rulers or the subjects of the Church, sin has abounded, where nothing but right- eousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost should have been found. It is so at this day ; our eyes see it ; we cannot deny it. But, though we all see it, we do not all see it in that particular light which Scripture sheds upon it. We The Church Visible and Invisible. 221 often account for it differently, we view it in a different relation to other truths, from that in which it really stands. In other words, we admit the fact, but adopt our own theory about it. I will explain what I mean, which will introduce a subject worth considering. The sight of the sins of Christians has led us to speak of what are called the Visible and the Invisible Church in what seems an unscriptural way. The word Church, applied to the body of Christians in this world, means but one thing in Scripture, a visible body invested with invisible privileges. Scripture does not speak of two bodies, one visible, the other invisible, each with its own complement of members. But this is a common notion at present ; and it is an erroneous, and (I will add) a dangerous notion. It is true there are some senses in which we may allowably talk of the Visible and Invisible Church. I am not finding fault with mere expressions ; one is not bound in common discourse to use every word with scientific precision. It is allowable to speak of the Visible and of the Invisible Church, as two sides of one and the same thing, separated by our minds only, not in reality. For instance, in political matters, we some- times speak of England as a nation and sometimes as a state ; not meaning different things, but one certain identical thing viewed in a different relation. When we speak of the Nation, we take into account its variety of local rights, interests, attachments, customs, opinions; the character of its people, and the history of that character's formation. On the other hand, when we speak of the State, we imply the notion of orders, ranks, 222 The Church Visible and Invisible. and powers, of the legislative and executive depart- ments, and the like. In like manner, no harm can come of the- distinction of the Church into Visible and Invisible, while we view it as, on the whole, but one in different aspects ; as Visible, because consisting (for instance) of clergy and laity — as Invisible, because resting for its life and strength upon unseen influences and gifts from Heaven. This is not really to divide into two, any more than to discriminate (as they say) between concave and convex, is to divide a curve line ; which looked at outwardly is convex, but looked at inwardly, concave. Again, we may consider the Church in one century as different from the Church in another. We may speak of the modern Church and the ancient Church ; and this without meaning that these are two bodies/ merely by way of denoting difference of time. In a similar way we talk of the Jewish Church and the Christian, though really both Churches are one, only under different Dispensations. " What is meant," you will ask, " by the Church in one age being the same as the Church in another ? " plainly this, that there is no real line of demarcation between them, that the one is but the continuation of the other, and that you may as well talk of two Churches at this moment in the north and south of England, as two in different centuries. Properly speaking, the One Church is the whole body gathered together from all ages; so that the Church of this very age is but part of it, and this in the same sense in which the Church in England, again, in this day, is but part of the present Church Catholic. The Church Visible and Invisible. 223 In the next world this whole Church will be brought together in one, whenever its separate members lived, and then, too, all its unsound and unfruitful mem- bers will be dropped, so that nothing but holiness will remain in it. Here, then, is a second sense in which we may discriminate between the Church Visible and Invisible. The body of the elect, contemplated as it will be hereafter, nay, as it already exists in Paradise, we may, if we will, call the Church, and, since this blessed consummation takes place in the unseen world, we may call it the Invisible Church. Doubtless, we may speak of the Invisible Church in the sense of the Church in glory, or the Church in rest, There is no error in such a mode of speech. We do not make two Churches, we only view the Christian body as existing in the world of spirits ; and the present Church visible, so far as it really has part and lot in the same blessed- ness. Still further, we may, by a figure of speech, speak of the members of the existing Church, who are at present walking in God's faith and fear, as the Invisible Church ; not meaning thereby that they constitute a separate body (which is not the case), but by a mental abstraction, separating them off in imagination from the rest, speaking of them as invisible because we do not know them, and speaking of them as peculiarly the Church because they are what all Christians are intended and ought to be, and are all that would remain of the Church Visible, did the Day of Judgment suddenly come. In like manner, speaking politically, we talk of the Clergy as the Church : here is a parallel 224 The Chitrch Visible and Invisible. instance, in which a part of a body is viewed as the whole ; still, who would say that the Laity are one Church by themselves, and the Clergy by themselves another ? In all these senses then, whether we speak of the Church as invisibly blest and succoured, or as tri- umphant hereafter, or in relation to its true members, who are its substantial support and glory, we may allowably make mention of the Invisible Church. But if we conceive of the Invisible as one, and the Visible as another, as if there were one body without spiritual privileges, of good and bad together, and another of good only, with spiritual privileges, surely we speak without warrant, or rather without leave of Holy Scripture. The Church of Christ, as Scripture teaches, is a visible body, invested with, or (I may say) existing in invisible privileges. Take the analogy of the human body by way of illustration. Considering man accord- ing to his animal nature, I might speak of him as having an organized visible frame sustained by an un- seen spirit. When the soul leaves the body it ceases to be a body, it becomes a corpse. So the Church would cease to be the Church, did the Holy Spirit leave it; and it does not exist at all except in the Spirit. Or, consider the figure of a tree, which is our Lord's own instance. A vine has many branches, and they are all nourished by the sap which circulates throughout. There may be dead branches, still they are upon one and the selfsame tree. Were they as numerous as the sound ones, were they a hundred times as many, they would not form a tree by them- The Church Visible and Invisible. 225 selves. Were all the branches dead, were the stock dead, then it would be a dead tree. But any how, we could never say there were two trees. Such is the Scripture account of the Church, a living body with branches, some dead, some living; as in the text by another figure : " In a great house there are vessels ; some to honour, and some to dishonour." Can any account be plainer than this is ? Why divide into two, when the only reason for so dividing, viz., the improbability that good and bad should be found together, is superseded, as irrelevant, by our Lord and His Apostles themselves ? Very various things are said of the Church; some- times it is spoken of as glorious and holy, some- times as abounding in offences and sins. It is natural, perhaps, at first sight, to invent, in consequence, the hypothesis of two Churches, as the Jews have dreamed of two Messiahs ; but, I say, our Saviour has implied that it is unnecessary, that these opposite descriptions of it are not really incompatible ; and if so, what reason remains for doing violence to the sacred text ? Consider these various descriptions, carefully ex- amine them, and say, why it is not possible to adjust them together in one subject, directly we know that it is lawful to do so ? Consider how they were all fulfilled in the case of the Corinthians, which is ex- pressly given in Scripture. For instance, the Church is made up of ranks and offices. " God hath set some in the Church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of heal- ings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues." It is inhabited by the Holy Ghost : " All these worketh that [m] P 226 The Church Visible and Invisible. one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as He will. For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, though many, are one body; so also is Christ." Its Sacraments are the instruments which the Holy Ghost uses : " By one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit." Yet, in spite of these precious gifts, the Church consists of bad as well as good ; for the Corin- thians, though "the temple of the Holy Ghost," are reproved by St. Paul for being " puffed up," " conten- tious," and " carnal." Now, in answer to this account of the Church, as one, and not double, it may be objected, that " surely it is impossible that bad men can really have God's grace within them, or that the irreligious or secular can be properly called justified or elect ; yet such men are out- wardly in the Church, so that there are two Churches any how, an outward and an inward." Or, again, it may be said that " repentance and faith are confessedly necessary in order to enjoy the Christian privileges; those, therefore, who have not these requisites, certainly have not the privileges, that is, are not members of Christ's true Church ; from which again it follows, that there certainly are two bodies, whatever words we use." It will be added, perhaps, that " Simon Magus, though he had been baptized, was unregenerate, being addressed by St. Peter as being ' in the gall of bitterness and the bond of iniquity/ " 1 On the other hand it may be 1 Acts viii. 23. The Church Visible and Invisible. 227 argued, that "there are good men outside the Visible Church, viz., among Dissenters, who, as being good, must necessarily be in the Invisible Church ; and thus there certainly are two Churches." On the whole, then, there are these two arguments to prove that the word Church has two distinct meanings in Scripture ; first, that there are bad men in the Visible Church; next, that certain good men are out of it: — both being derived from the actual state of things which we see, which is supposed to be a legitimate comment upon the words of Scripture. 1. We will first take the objection, that bad men are in the Visible Church ; what is this to prove ? Let us observe. It is maintained, that "bad men cannot be members of the true Church, therefore, there is a true Church distinct from the Visible Church." But we shall be nearer the truth, if, instead of saying " bad men cannot be members of the true Church," we word it, " bad men cannot be true members of the Church." Does not this meet all that reason requires, yet without leading to the inference that the Church Visible is not the true Church ? Again, it is said that " the Visible Church has not the gifts of grace, because wicked men are members of it, who, of course, cannot have them." What ! must the Church be without them herself, because she is not able to impart them to wicked men ? What reasoning is this ? because certain individuals of a body have them not, therefore the body has them not ! Surely it is possible that certain members of a body should be debarred, under circumstances, from its privi- leges ; and this we consider to be the case with bad men. 228 The Chiwch Visible and Invisible. Let us return to the instance of a tree, already used. Is a dead branch part or not part of a tree ? You may decide this way or that, but you will never say, because the branch is dead, that therefore the tree has no sap. It is a dead branch of a living tree, not a branch of a dead tree. In like manner, irreligious men are dead members of the one Visible Church, which is living and true, not members of a Church which is dead. Because they are dead, it does not follow that the Visible Church to which they belong is dead also. Or, consider the parallel of a body politic. Are persons, who are under disabilities, members of it or not ? Are convicts ? Prisoners are debarred from certain rights, but they are still members of the state, and, after a while, recover what they have forfeited. The case is the same as regards the Church. Its invisible privileges range throughout it ; but there may be, on the part of individuals, obstacles or impediments which suspend their enjoyment of them. It is one thing to be admitted into the body, and another thing to enjoy its privileges. While men are impenitent, the grace of the Christian election does not operate in their case. And in proportion to their carelessness and profaneness do they quench the Spirit. Hence it is, that faith is necessary for our justification, as an indis- pensable condition, where it can be had. Simon Magus, we may securely grant, was profited nothing by his baptism ; the font of regeneration was opened upon him, but his heart was closed. The blessing was put into his hand, but he had not that which alone could apprehend and apply it. It was sealed up from liim The Church Visible and Invisible. 229 and only penitence and faith could unseal it. There- fore St. Peter bids him repent, that he might receive it. He went on further in wickedness, as history informs us, and then, of course, the gift thus attached to him, "but not enjoyed, would prove, at the last day, "but a cause of heavier condemnation. I do not presume to say that this is the true explanation of his case, which is not told us, but as a mode of explaining it, and yet keeping clear of the conclusion, for the sake of which it is usually brought. If there be one such explanation, there may be others. In like manner, when men fall into sin, they lose the light of God's countenance ; but why should it be withdrawn from the Holy Church, for their individual transgressions ? There was a controversy, in early times, which illus- trates still further the foregoing explanation of the difficulty. It was disputed whether the baptism ad- ministered by clergy who were heretics, and had been put out of the Church, was valid. And at length it was decided as follows : that the baptism was valid for the primary purpose of baptism, viz., that of admitting into the visible body of Christ, but that the enjoyment of its privileges was suspended, while the parties receiving it remained in heretical communion. On coming over to the Church Catholic, they were formally admitted by confirmation, and released from the bond under which they had hitherto lain. If, then, I am asked what is to be thought of the state of irreligious men in the Church, I answer, that if opei? sinners, or heretics, or leaders in dissent, be meant, 230 The Church Visible and Invisible. they are to be put out of it by the competent authority. As to those who are not such, we cannot determine about their real condition, for we cannot see their hearts. Many may seem fair and specious to us, who are really dead in God's sight; and these, of course, cannot possess the gifts of grace any more than Simon Magus. Or they may be lukewarm, unstable, incon- sistent; and may thus have forfeited, more or less, the privileges which have graciously been committed to them. But how does all this show that the Visible Church has not the true and spiritual gifts of the Gospel attached to her ? 2. Now, to consider the second objection that is urged, viz., that "there are good men external to the Visible Church, therefore there is a second Church, called the Invisible." In answer, I observe, that as every one, who has been duly baptized, is, in one sense, in the Church, even though his sins since have hid God's countenance from him ; so, if a man has not been baptized, be he ever so correct and exemplary in his conduct, this does not prove that he has received regeneration, which is the peculiar and invisible gift of the Church. What is Eegeneration ? It is the gift of a new and spiritual nature ; but men have, through God's blessing, obeyed and pleased Him without it. The Israelites were not regenerated; Cornelius, the Centurion, was not regenerated, when his prayers and alms came up before God. No outward conduct, however consistent, can be a criterion, to our mortal judgments, of this unearthly and mysterious privilege. Therefore, when you bring to me the case of religious The Church Visible and Invisible. 231 Dissenters, I rejoice at hearing of them. If they know no better, God, we trust, will accept them as He did the Shunammite. I wish, with all my heart, they partook the full blessings of the Church ; but all my wishing cannot change God's appointments ; and His appointment, I say, is this — that the Church Visible should be the minister, and baptism the instrument of Regeneration. But I have said not a word to imply that a man, if he knows no better, may not be exem- plary in his generation without it. So much in answer to this objection ; but the same consideration throws light upon the former difficulty also, that of inconsistent men being in the Church. Eegeneration, I say, is a new birth, or the giving of a new nature. Now, let it be observed, there is nothing impossible in the thing itself, though we believe it is not so, but nothing impossible in the very notion of a regeneration being accorded even to impenitent sinners. I do not say regeneration in its fulness, for that includes in it perfect happiness and holiness, to which it tends from the first ; yet regeneration in a true and sufficient sense, in its primary qualities. For the essence of regeneration is the communication of a higher and diviner nature ; and sinners may have this gift, though it would be a curse to them, not a blessing. The devils have a nature thus higher and more divine than man, yet they are not preserved thereby from evil. And if this is the case even with sinners, much more is regeneration conceivable in the instance of children, who have done neither good nor evil. Nor does it all follow, even though they grow up disobedient, 232 The Church Visible and Invisible. and are a scandal to the Church, that therefore the Church has not conveyed to them a great gift, an initiation into the powers of the world to come. If, indeed, this gracious privilege ensured religious obedience, then, truly, disobedience in those who have been admitted into the Church would prove that the Church had not conveyed it to them. But, until a man is ready to maintain that the Spirit cannot be " quenched," he has no warrant for saying that it has not been given. Now, then, after these explanations, let me ask, in what is this whole doctrine concerning the Church, which I have been giving, inconsistent ? What difficulty does it present to force us to reject the plain word of Scripture about it, and to imagine a Visible Church with no privileges at all, and an Invisible Church of real Christians exclusively with them ? Surely, nothing but the influence of a human system, acting on us, can make us read Scripture so perversely ! and how is it a less violence to deny that the Church which the Apostles set up, and which is, in matter of fact, among us at this day, is (what Scripture says it is) the pillar and ground of the Truth, the Mother of us all, the House of God, the dwelling-place of the Holy Ghost, the Spouse of Christ, a glorious Church without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, and destined to remain even to the end of the world — how is this a less violent perversion of Scripture truth than theirs, who, when Scripture says that Christ is God, obstinately maintain He is a mere man? I will notice in conclusion one objection which subtle The Church Visible and Invisible. 233 minds may make to the statements now set before you. It may be said that the Church has forfeited its early privileges, by allowing itself to remain in a state of sin and disorder which Christ never intended : for instance, " that from time to time there have been great corrup- tions in it, especially under the ascendancy of the Papel power : that there have been very many scandalous appointments to its highest dignities, that infidels have been bishops, that men have administered baptism or ordination, not believing that grace was imparted in those sacred ordinances, and that, in particular in our own country, heretics and open sinners, whom Christ would have put out of the Church, are suffered, by a sin on the part of the Church, to remain within it unrebuked, uncondemned." This is what is sometimes said ; and I confess, had we not Scripture to consult, it would be a very specious argument against the Church's present power, now at the distance of eighteen hundred years from the Apostles. It would certainly seem as if, the conditions not having been fully observed on which that power was granted, it was forfeited. But here the case of the Jewish Church affords us the consoling certainty, that God does not so visit, even though He might, and that His gifts and calling "are without repentance."1 Christ's Church cannot be in a worse condition than that of Israel when He visited it in the flesh ; yet He expressly assures us that in His day " the Scribes and Pharisees," wicked men as they were, " sat in Moses' seat," and were to be obeyed in what they taught ; and we find, in accordance with this informa- 1 Kom. xi. 29. 234 The Church Visible and Invisible. tion, that Caiaphas, " because he was the high priest," had the gift of prophecy — had it, though he did not know he had it, nay, in spite of his being one of the foremost in accomplishing our Lord's crucifixion. Surely, then, we may infer, that, howeyer fallen the Church now is from what it once was, however un- conscious of its power, it still has the gift, as of old time, to convey and withdraw the Christian privileges, " to bind and to loose," to consecrate, to bless, to teach the Truth in all necessary things, to rule, and to prevail. But if these things be so, if the Church Visible really has invisible privileges, what must we think, my brethren, of the general spirit of this day, which looks upon the Church as but a civil institution, a creation and a portion of the State ? What shall be thought of the notion that it depends upon the breath of princes, or upon the enactments of human law? What, again, shall be thought of those who fiercely and rancorously oppose and revile what is really an Ordinance of God, and the place where His honour dwelleth? Even to the Jewish priesthood after the blood of the Eedeemer was upon it, even to it St. Paul deferred, signifying that God's high priest was not to be reviled ; and if so, surely much less the rulers of a branch of the Church, which, whatever have been its sins in times past, yet is surely innocent (as we humbly and fervently trust) of any inexpiable crime. More- over, what an unworthy part they act, who, knowing and confessing the real claims of the Church, yet allow them to be lightly treated and forgotten, without utter- The Church Visible and Invisible. 235 ing a word in their behalf ; who from secular policy, or other insufficient reason, bear to hear our spiritual rulers treated as mere civil functionaries, without instructing, or protesting against, or foregoing intimacy with those who despise them, nay even co-operating with them cordially, as if they could serve two masters, Christ and the world ! And how melancholy is the general spectacle in this day of ignorance, doubt, perplexity, misbelief, perverseness, on the subject of this great doctrine, to say nothing of the jealousy, hatred, and unbelieving spirit with which the Church is regarded ! Surely, thus much we are forced to grant, that, be the privileges vested in the Church what they may, yet, at present, they are, as to their full fruits, suspended in our branch of it by our present want of faith ; nor can we expect that the glories of Christ's Kingdom will again be manifested in it, till we repent, confess " our offences and the offences of our forefathers;" and, instead of trusting to an arm of flesh, claim for the Church what God has given it, for Christ's sake, "whether men will hear, or whether they will for- bear/ SERMON XVII. » THE VISIBLE CHUECH AN ENCOURAGEMENT TO FAITH. HEB. xii. 1. " Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us." warning and consolation given by the Apostle to the Hebrews, amid their sufferings for the truth's sake, were as follows : they were to guard against unbelief, that easily-besetting sin under temptation, chiefly, and above all, by "looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of faith ; " but, besides this, a secondary stay was added. So glorious and holy is our Lord, though viewed in His human nature, so perfect when He was tempted, so heavenly even upon earth, that sinners, such as we are, cannot endure the sight of Him at first. Like the blessed Apostle in the book of Kevelation, we " fall at His feet as dead." So, in mercy to us, without withdrawing His presence, He has included within it, His Saints and Angels, a great company of created beings, nay, of those who once were sinners, and subjects of His kingdom upon earth ; that The Visible Church, &c. 237 thus we may be encouraged by the example of others before us to look unto Him and live. St. Paul, in the foregoing chapter, enumerates many of the Ancient Saints who had run the course of faith ; and then he says in the text, " Wherefore, let us also, being com- passed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us." And presently he speaks in still more high and glowing language of the Christian Church, that august assemblage which Christ had formed of all that was holy in heaven and earth. "Ye are come unto Mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable com- pany of Angels, to the general assembly and Church of the first-born, and to the spirits of the just made perfect, and to Jesus the Mediator of the New Cove- nant." And much is needed, in every age, as a remedy against unbelief, that support which St. Paul sug- gested to the Hebrews in persecution, the vision of the Saints of God, and of the Kingdom of Heaven. Much is it needed, in every age, by those who have set their hearts to serve God, because they are few, and faint for company. We are told, expressly, " Broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat." On the other hand, " Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." * Alas ! is it not discouragement enough to walk in a path of self-denial, to combat 1 Matt. vii. 13, 14. 238 The Visible Church our natural lusts and high imaginations, to have the war of the flesh, that the war with the world must be added to it ? Is it not enough to be pilgrims and soldiers all our days, but we must hear the mutual greetings, and exulting voices of those who choose the way of death, and must walk not only in pain but in solitude ? Where is the blessing upon the righteous, where the joy of faith, the comfort of love, the triumph of self-mastery, in such dreariness and desolateness ? Who are to sympathize with us in our joys and sorrows, who are to spur us on by the example of their own success ? St. Paul answers us — the cloud of witnesses of former days. Let us then consider our need and its remedy. 1. Certainly it cannot be denied that, if we surrender our hearts to Christ and obey God, we shall be in the number of the few. So it has been in every age, so it will be to the end of time. It is hard, indeed, to find a man who gives himself up honestly to his Saviour. In spite of all the mercies poured upon us, yet in one way or other we are in danger of being betrayed by our own hearts, and taking up with a pretence of religion instead of the substance. Hence, in a country called Christian, the many live to the world. Nay, it would seem that as Christianity spreads, its fruit becomes less ; or, at least, does not increase with its growth. It seems (some have said) as if a certain portion of truth were in the world, a certain number of the elect in the Church, and, as you increased its territory, you scattered this remnant to and fro, and made them seem fewer, and made them feel more desolate. an Encouragement to Faith. 239 " Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves ; " l what our Lord addressed to His Apostles is fulfilled to this day in all those who obey Him. They are sprinkled up and down the world ; they are separated the one from the other, they are bid quit each other's dear society, and sent afar off to those who are differently minded. Their choice of profession and employment is not their own. Outward circumstances, over which they have no control, determine their line of life ; accidents bring them to this place or that place, not knowing whither they go ; not knowing the per- sons to whom they unite themselves, they find, almost blindly, their home and their company. And in this, moreover, differing from the Apostles, and very pain- fully ; that the Apostles knew each other, and could communicate one with another, and could form, nay, were bound to form one body ; but now, those honest and true hearts, in which the good seed has profitably fallen, do not even know each other ; nay, even when they think they can single out their fellows, yet are they not allowed to form a separate society with them. They do not know each other; they do not know themselves ; they do not dare take to themselves the future titles of God's elect, though they be really reserved for them ; and the nearer they are towards heaven, so much the more lowly do they think of them- selves. " Lord, I am not worthy that Thou shouldest come under my roof,"2 was the language of him who had greater faith than any in Israel. Doubtless, they do not know their own blessedness, nor can they single 1 Matt. x. 16. 2 Matt. viii. 8. 240 The Visible Church out those who are their fellows in blessedness. God alone sees the heart ; now and then, as they walk their way, they see glimpses of God's work in others ; they take hold of them awhile in the dark, but soon lose them ; they hear their voices, but cannot find them. Some few, indeed, are revealed to them in a measure. Among those with whom their lot is cast, whom they see continually, one or two, perhaps, are given them to rejoice in, but not many even of these. For so it has pleased the Dresser of the Vineyard, who seems to have purposed that His own should not grow too thick together; and if they seem to do so, He prunes His vine, that, seeming to bear less, it may bear better. He plucks off some of the promise of the vintage; and they who are left, mourn over their brethren whom God has taken to Himself, not understanding that it is no strange providence, but the very rule of His govern- ment, to leave His servants few and solitary. And, even when they know each other (as far as man can know man), still, as I have said, they may not form an exclusive communion together. Of course, every one will naturally live most with those whom he likes most ; but it is one thing to have a preference, and quite another to draw a line of exclusion, and to form a select company within the Church. The Visible Church of God is that one only company which Chris- tians know as yet; it was set up at Pentecost, with the Apostles for founders, their successors for rulers, and all professing Christian people for members. In this Visible Church the Church Invisible is gradually moulded and matured. It is formed slowly and vari- an Encouragement to Faith. 241 ously by the Blessed Spirit of God, in the instance of this man and that, who belong to the general body. But all these blessed fulfilments of God's grace are as yet but parts of the Visible Church ; they grow from it ; they depend upon it ; they do not hang upon each other ; they do not form a body together ; there is no Invisible Church yet formed ; it is but a name as yet ; a name given to those who are hidden, and known to God only, and as yet but half formed, the unripe and gradually ripening fruit which grows on the stem of the Church Visible. As well might we attempt to fore- tell the blossoms which will at length turn to account and ripen for the gathering, and then counting up all these and joining them together in our minds, call them by the name of a tree, as attempt now to associate in one the true elect of God. They are scattered about amid the leaves of that Mystical Vine which is seen, and receive their nurture from its trunk and branches. They live on its Sacraments and its Ministry ; they gain light and salvation from its rites and ordinances; they communicate with each other through it; they obey its rulers; they walk together with its members; they do not dare to judge of this man or that man, on their right hand or their left, whether or not he is absolutely of the number of those who shall be saved ; they accept all as their brethren in Christ, as partakers of the same general promises, who have not openly cast off Christ— as really brethren, till death comes, as those are who fulfil their calling most strictly. Yet, at the same time, while in faith they love those, [ITT] 4 242 The Visible Church all around them, who are called by Christ's name, and forbear to judge about their real state in God's sight, they cannot but see much in many of them to hurt and offend them ; they cannot but feel, most painfully, tha presence of that worldly atmosphere which, however originating, encircles them; they feel the suffocation of those vapours in which the many are content to remain ; and while they cannot trace the evil to its real authors individually, they are sure that it is an evil to be avoided and pointed out, and originating some- where or other in the Church. Hence, in their spheres, whether high or low, the faithful few are witnesses; they are witnesses for God and Christ, in their lives, and by their protestations, without judging others, or exalting themselves. They are witnesses in various degrees, to various persons, more or less, as each needs it — differing from the multitude variously, as each of that multitude, before whom they witness, is better or worse, and as they themselves- are more or less advanced in the truth; still, on the whole, they are witnesses, as light witnesses against darkness by the contrast ; — giving good and receiving back evil ; receiv- ing back on themselves the contempt, the ridicule, and the opposition of the world, mixed, indeed, with some praise and reverence, reverence which does not last long, but soon becomes fear and hatred. And hence it is that religious men need some consolation to support them, which the Visible Church seems, at first sight, not to supply, when the overflowings of ungodliness make them afraid. 2. Now then, secondly, in such circumstances what an Encouragement to Faith. 243 shall we say ? Are they "but solitary witnesses, each in his place ? Is the Church which they see really no consolation to them at all, except as contemplated by faith in respect of its invisible gifts ? or does it, after all, really afford them some sensible stay, a vision of Heaven, of peace and purity, antagonist to the world that now is, in spite of the evil which abounds in it, and overlays it? Through God's great mercy, it is actually, in no small degree, a present and a sensible consolation, as I proceed to show. In truth, do what he will, Satan cannot quench or darken the light of the Church. He may incrust it with his own evil creations, but even opaque bodies transmit rays, and Truth shines with its own heavenly lustre, though " under a bushel." The Holy Spirit has vouchsafed to take up His abode in the Church, and the Church will ever bear, on its front, the visible signs of its hidden privilege. Viewed at a little dis- tance, its whole surface will be illuminated, though the light really streams from apertures which might be numbered. The scattered witnesses thus become, in the language of the text, " a cloud," like the Milky Way in the heavens. We have, in Scripture, the records of those who lived and died by faith in the old time, and nothing can deprive us of them. The strength of Satan lies in his being seen to have the many on his side ; but, when we read the Bible, this argument loses its hold over us. There we find that we are not solitary; that others, before us, have been in our very condition, have had our feelings, undergone our trials, and laboured for the 244 The Visible Church prize which we are seeking. Nothing more elevates the mind than the consciousness of being one of a great and victorious company. Does not the soldier exult in his commander, and consider his triumph as his own ? He is but one, yet he identifies himself with the army, and the cause in which he serves, and dwells upon tha thought of victories, and those who win them, more than on casual losses and defeats. Does not a native of a powerful country feel it a joy and boast to be so ? Do we not hear men glory in being born Englishmen ? And they go to and fro, gazing on the works of their own days, and the monuments of their forefathers, and say to themselves that their race is a noble one. Much more fully, much more reasonably is this the boast of a Christian, and without aught of arrogant or carnal feeling. He knows, from God's Word, that he is "citizen of no mean city." He feels that his is no upstart line, but very ancient ; Almighty God having purposed to bring many sons unto glory through His Son, and begetting them again, in their separate ages, to do Him service. He is one of a host, and all those blessed Saints he reads of are his brethren in the faith. He finds, in the history of the past, a peculiar kind of consolation, counteracting the influence of the world that is seen. He cannot tell who the Saints are now on earth ; those yet unborn are known to God only ; but the Saints of former times are sealed for heaven and are in their degree revealed to him. The spirits of the just made perfect encourage him to follow them. This is why it is a Christian's characteristic to look back on former times. The man of this world lives in an Encouragement to Faith. 245 the present, or speculates about the future ; but faith rests upon the past and is content. It makes the past the mirror of the future. It recounts the list of faithful servants of God, to whom St. Paul refers in the text, and no longer feels sad as if it were alone. Abraham and the Patriarchs, Moses, Samuel, and the Prophets, David and the kings who walked in his steps, these are the Christian's forefathers. By degrees he learns to have them as familiar images before his mind, to unite his cause with theirs, and, since their history comforts him, to defend them in his own day. Hence he feels jealous for their honour, and when they are attacked he answers eagerly, so as to surprise those who are contented with things as they are ; but, truly, he is too grateful, too affectionate, too much interested in the matter, to be complimentary and generous towards their assailants. He had rather the present day should be proved captious, than a former day mistaken. But to return : what a world of sympathy and comfort is thus opened to us in the Communion of Saints ! The heathen, who sought truth most earnestly, fainted for want of companions ; every one stood by himself. They were tempted to think that all their best feelings were but an empty name, and that it mattered not whether they served God or disobeyed Him. But Christ has " gathered together the children of God that were scat- tered abroad," and brought them near to each other in every time and place. Are we young, and in tempta- tion or trial ? we cannot be in worse circumstances than Joseph. Are we in sickness ? Job will surpass us in sufierings as in patience. Are we in perplexities and 246 The Visible Church anxieties, with conflicting duties and a bewildered mind, having to please unkind superiors, yet without offending God ; so grievous a trial as David's we cannot have, when Saul persecuted him. Is it our duty to witness for the truth among sinners ? No Christian can at this day be so hardly circumstanced as Jeremiah. Have we domestic trials ? Job, Jacob, and David, were afflicted in their children. It is easy indeed to say all this, and many a man may hear it said, and not feel moved by it, and conceive it is a mere matter of words, easy and fitting indeed to say, but a cold consolation in actual suffering. And I will own that a man cannot profit by these considerations all at once. A man, who has never thought of the history of the Saints, will gain little benefit from it on first taking up the subject when he comes into trouble. He will turn from it disappointed. He may say, "My pain or my trial is not the less because another had it a thousand years since." But the consolation in question comes not in the way of argument but by habit. A tedious journey seems shorter when gone in company, yet, be the travellers many or few, each goes over the same ground. Such is the Christian's feeling towards all Saints, but it is especially excited by the Church of Christ and by all that belong to it. For what is that Church but a pledge and proof of God's never-dying love and power from age to age ? He set it up in mercy to mankind, and its presence among us is a proof that in spite of our , sins He has not yet forsaken us ; — " Hitherto hath the Lord helped us." He set it up on the foundation of His Twelve Apostles, and promised that the gates of hell an Encouragement to Faith. 247 should not prevail against it ; and its presence among us is a proof of His power. He set it up to succeed to the four monster kingdoms which then were ; and it lived to see those kingdoms of the earth crumble into dust and come to nought. It lived to see society new formed upon the model of the governments which last to this day. It lives still, and it is older than them all. Much and rightly as we reverence old lineage, noble "birth, and illustrious ancestry, yet the royal dynasty of the Apostles is far older than all the kingly families which are now on the earth. Every Bishop of the Church whom we behold, is a lineal descendant of St. Peter and St. Paul after the order of a spiritual birth ; — a noble thought, if we could realize it ! True it is that at various times the Bishops have forgotten their high rank and acted unworthily of it. So have kings and princes, yet noble they were by blood in spite of their personal errors, and the line of their family is not broken or degraded thereby. And in like manner, true though it be that the descendants of the Apostles have before now lived to this world, have fancied themselves of this world, have thought their office secular and civil, or if religious, yet at least " of men and by man," not " by Jesus Christ," have judged it much to have riches, or to sit in high places, or to have rank and consider- ation, or to have the fame of letters, or to be king's counsellors, or to live in courts — yet, granting the utmost, for all this they are not the less inspiring an object to a believing mind, which sees in each of them the earnest of His promise, "I will never leave thee nor forsake thee." He said, He would be with His 248 The Visible Church Church : He has continued it alive to this day. He has continued the line of His Apostles onwards through every age and all troubles and perils of the world. Here then, surely, is somewhat of encouragement for us amid our loneliness and weakness. The presence of every Bishop suggests a long history of conflicts and trials, sufferings and victories, hopes and fears, through many centuries. His presence at this day is the fruit of them all. He is the living monument of those who are dead. He is the promise of a bold fight and a good confession and a cheerful martyrdom now, if needful, as was instanced in those of old time. We see their figures on our walls, and their tombs are under our feet ; and we trust, nay, we are sure, that God will be to us in our day what He was to them. In the words of the Psalmist, " The Lord hath been mindful of us ; He will bless us ; He will bless the house of Israel ; He will bless the house of Aaron." 1 And more especially does the sight of our living Apostles bring before our thoughts the more favoured of their line, who, at different times, have fought the good fight of faith valiantly and gloriously. Blessed be God, He has given us to know them as if we had lived in their day and enjoyed their pattern and instructions. Alas ! in spite of the variety of books now circulated among all classes of the community, how little is known about the Saints of past times ! How is this 1 has Christ's Church failed in any age ? or have His wit- nesses betrayed their trust ? are they not our bone and our flesh ? Have they not partaken the same spiritual 1 Psalm cxv. 12. an Encouragement to Faith. 249 food as ourselves and the same spiritual drink, used the same prayers, and confessed the same creed ? If a man merely looks into the Prayer-Book, he will meet there with names, about which, perhaps, he knows and cares nothing at all. A prayer we read daily is called the prayer of St. Chrysostom; a creed is called the Creed of St. Athanasius ; another creed is called the Nicene Creed ; in the Articles we read of St. Augustine and St. Jerome ; in the Homilies of many other such besides. What do these names mean ? Sad it is, you have no heart to inquire after or celebrate those who are fellow-citizens with you, and your great benefactors ! Men of this world spread each other's fame — they vaunt loudly; — you see in every street the names and the statues of the children of men, you hear of their exploits in speeches and histories ; yet you care not to know concerning those to whom you are indebted for the light of Gospel truth. Truly they were in their day men of God ; they were rulers and teachers in the Church ; they had received by succession of hands the power first given to the Apostles and now to us. They laboured and suffered and fainted not, and their writ- ings remain to this day. Now a person who cultivates this thought, finds therein, through God's mercy, great encouragement. Say he is alone, his faith counted a dream, and his efforts to do good a folly, what then ? He knows there have been times when his opinions were those of the revered and influential, and the opinions now in repute only not reprobated because they were not heard of. He knows that present opinions are the accident of the day, and that they 250 The Visible Church will fall as they have risen. They will surely fall even though at a distant date ! He labours for that time ; he labours for five hundred years to come. He can bear in faith to wait five hundred years, to wait for an era long, long after he has mouldered into dust. The Apostles lived eighteen hundred years since ; and as far as the Christian looks back, so far can he afford to look forward. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, from first to last. I referred just now to our Sacred Services; these, again, may be made to furnish a support to our faith and hope. He who comes to Church to worship God, be he high or low, enters into that heavenly world of Saints of which I have been speaking. For in the Services of worship we elicit and realize the invisible. I know, indeed, that Christ is then especially present, and vouchsafes to bless us ; but I am speaking all along of the help given to us by sensible objects, and, even in this lower view, doubtless much is done for us in the course of divine worship. "VVe read from the Bible of the Saints who have gone before us, and we make mention of them in our prayers. We thank God for them, we praise God with them, we pray God to visit us in mercy as He visited them. And every earthly thought or principle is excluded. The world no longer rules as it does abroad; no longer teaches, praises, blames, scoffs, wonders, according to its own false standard. It is merely spoken of as one of the three great enemies whom we are sworn to resist ; it holds its proper place ; and its doom is confidently pre- dicted, the final victory of the Church over it. And, an Encouragement to Faith. 251 further, it is much more impressive to hear and to see1, than to read in a book. When we read the Bible and religious books in private, there is great comfort ; but our minds are commonly more roused and encouraged in Church, when we see those great truths displayed and represented which Scripture speaks of. There we see " Jesus Christ, evidently set forth, crucified among us." The ordinances which we behold, force the unseen truth upon our senses. The very disposition of the building, the subdued light, the aisles, the Altar, with its pious adornments, are figures of things unseen, and stimulate our fainting faith. We seem to see the heavenly courts, with Angels chanting, and Apostles and Prophets listening, as we read their writings in due course. And thus, even attendance on a Sunday may, through God's mercy, avail even in the case of those who have not given themselves up to Him^ not to their salvation (for no one can be saved by one or two observances merely, or without a life of faith), but so far as to break in upon their dream of sin, and give them thoughts and notions which may be the germ of future good. Even to those, I say, who live to the world, the mere Sunday attendance at Church is a continual memento on their conscience, giving them a glimpse of things unseen, and rescuing them in a measure from the servitude of Mammon or of BeliaL And therefore it is, that Satan's first attempt, when he would ruin a soul, is to prevail upon him to desecrate the Lord's Day. And if such is the effect of coming to Church once a week, even to an undecided or carnal mind, how much more impressive and invigorating are 252 The Visible Church the Services to serious men who come daily or fre- quently ! Surely such attendance is a safeguard, such as amulets were said to be, a small thing to all appearance, but effectual I say it with confidence, he who observes it, will grow in time a different man from what he was, God working in him. His heart will be more heavenly and aspiring ; the world will lie under his feet ; he will be proof against its opinions, threats, blandishments, ridicule. His very mode of viewing things, his very voice, his manner, gait, and countenance, will speak of Heaven to those who know him well, though the many see nothing in him. The many understand him not, and even in St. Paul or St. John would see but ordinary men. Yet at times such a one will speak effectually even to the many, In seasons of unusual distress or alarm, when men's minds faint for fear, then he will have a natural power over the world, and will seem to speak, not as an indi- vidual, but as if in him was concentrated all the virtue and the grace of those many Saints who have been his life-long companions. He has lived with those who are dead, and he will seem to the world as one coming from the dead, speaking in the name of the dead, using the language of souls dead to things that are seen, revealing the mysteries of the heavenly world, and aweing and controlling those who are wedded to this. What slight account did the centurion and the crew make of St. Paul, till a tempest had long time " lain on them," and "all hope that they should be saved was then taken away ! " But then, though he had done no miracle, "he stood forth in the midst/' exhorted and an Encouragement to Faith. 253 encouraged them, bade them take meat, acted as their priest, giving thanks to God and breaking bread in the presence of them all, and so made them " of good cheer." Such is the gift, deeply lodged and displayed at times, of those who have ascended into the third heaven. One living Saint, though there be but one, is a pledge of the whole Church Invisible. Let this thought console us as it ought to do ; let it have its full influence in us and possess us. Let us "lift up our hearts," let us, "lift them up unto the Lord!" SEEMON XVIII. THE GIFT OF THE SPIRIT. 2 COE. iii. 18. " Wt all, imtTi open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord" IV/TOSES prayed for this one thing, that he might •*-"• " see God's glory ; " and he was allowed to be- hold it in such measure, that when he came down from the Mount, " the skin of his face shone," so that the people " were afraid to come nigh him." Only to him was this privilege vouchsafed in this intimate way, and that but once ; but a promise was given, that at some future time it should be extended to the whole earth. God said to him, "As truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord," that glory which the Israelites had seen in glimpses and had pro- faned. Afterwards the prophets Isaiah and Habakkuk foretold, in like manner, that the earth should be filled with the Lord's glory and the knowledge of it. When Christ came, these promises were fulfilled, for "we The Gift of the Spirit. 255 beheld His glory," St. John says, " the glory as of the Only-begotten of the Father." l In the chapter which ends with the text, St. Paul contrasts the shadows and earnests tinder the Law, of "the glory that should follow" Christ's coming, with that glory itself. He says that he and his brother Apostles are "not as Moses, who put a veil over his face." At length the glory of God in full measure was the privilege and birthright of all believers, who now, " in the unveiled face of Christ their Saviour, beheld the reflection of the Lord's glory," and were " changed into His likeness from one measure of glory to another." Our Saviour's words in His last prayer for His Apostles, and for all His disciples as included under them, convey to us the same gracious truth. He says, "The glory which Thou gavest Me, I have given them."2 This glorious Dispensation, under which the Church now exists, is called by St. Paul, in the same chapter, "the ministration of the Spirit;" and again in the text, we are said to be changed into the glorious image of Christ, " by the Spirit of the Lord." And further, the Church, as being thus honoured and exalted by the presence of the Spirit of Christ, is called "the Kingdom of God," "the Kingdom of Heaven;" as, for instance, by our Lord Himsell " The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand :" " Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God."3 1 Exod. xxxiv. 30 ; Numb. xiv. 21 ; Isa. xi. 9 ; Hab. ii. 14 ; John i. 14. 2 John xvii. 22. 3 Matt> x. 7 . John iii< 5 256 The Gift of the Spirit. I propose now to make some remarks on this peculiar gift of the Gospel Dispensation, which, as in the fore- going passages, is spoken of as the gift of " the Spirit," the gift of " glory," and through which the Church has "become what it was not before, the Kingdom of Heaven. And here, before entering upon the subject, I would observe, that as there is a sense in which the grant of glory was made even under the Law, viz., in its miracles (as when the Israelites are condemned for having " seen the glory of the Lord and His miracles," and yet " not having hearkened to His voice"1), so in another point of view it belongs exclusively to the promised blessed- ness hereafter. Still there is a peculiar and sufficient sense in which it is ascribed to the Christian Church, and what this is, is the question now before us. 1. In the first place, some insight is given into the force of the word "glory," as our present privilege, by considering the meaning of the title " Kingdom of Heaven," which, as has been just observed, has also belonged to the Church since Christ came. The Church is called by this name as being the court and domain of Almighty God, who retreated from the earth, as far as His kingly presence was concerned, when man fell Not that He left Himself without witness in any age, but even in His most gracious manifestations, still He conducted Himself as if in an enemy's country, n as I a stranger in the land, and as a wayfaring man that turneth aside to tarry for a night."2 But when Christ had reconciled Him to His fallen creatures, He returned according to the prophecy, " I will dwell in them, and 1 Numb. xiv. 22. 2 Jer. xiv. 8. The Gift of the Spirit. 257 walk in them ; I will set My sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore."1 From that time there has really "been a heaven upon earth, in fulfilment of Jacob's vision. Thenceiorth the Church was not a carnal ordi- nance, made of perishable materials, like the Jewish Tabernacle, which had been a type of the Dispensation to which it belonged. It became "a kingdom which c'annot be moved," being sweetened, purified, and spiri- tualized by the pouring out of Christ's blood in it. It became once more an integral part of that unseen, but really existing world, of which " the Lord is the ever- lasting Light ; " and it had fellowship with its blessed inhabitants. St. Paul thus describes it in his epistle to the Hebrews : "Ye are come to Mount Sion ;" to the true "mountain of the Lord's House," of which the earthly Sion was a type ; " and to the city of the Living God, the heavenly Jerusalem ;" that is, as he elsewhere calls it, " the Jerusalem that is above," or, as he speaks; in another place, " our citizenship is in heaven ;" " and to an innumerable company of Angels, to the festive Concourse and Church of the First-born enrolled in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the perfected Just, and to Jesus the Mediator of the Kew Covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that Speaketh better things than that of Abel."2 Since then the Christian Church is a Heaven upon earth, it is not surprising that in some sense or other its distinguishing privilege or gift should be glory, for this is the one attribute which we ever attach to our notion of Heaven itself, according to the Scripture intimations 1 2 Cor. vi. 16 ; Ezek. xxxvii. 26. 2 Heb. xii. 22-24. [Ill] R 258 The Gift of the Spirit. concerning it. The glory "here may be conceived of by considering what we believe of the glory hereafter. \ 2. Next, if we consider the variety and dignity of the \ gifts ministered by the Spirit, we shall, perhaps, discern in a measure, why our state under the Gospel is called a state of glory. It is not uncommon, in the present day, to divide the works of the Holy Ghost in the Church into two kinds, miraculous and moral. By miraculous are meant such as He manifested in the first ages of the Gospel, marvels out of the course of nature, addressed to our senses ; such as the power of healing, of raising the dead, and the like; or, again, such as speaking with tongues or prophecy. On the other hand, by moral operations or influences are meant such as act upon our minds, and enable us to be what we otherwise could not be, holy and accepted in all branches of the Christian character ; in a word, all such as issue in Sanctification, as it is called. These distinct works of the Holy Spirit, viewed in their effects, are commonly called extraordinary and ordinary, or gifts and graces; and it is usual to say, that gifts have ceased, and graces alone remain to us, and hence, to limit the present " ministration of the Spirit" to certain influences on our moral nature, to the office of changing, renewing, purifying the heart and mind, implanting a good will, imparting knowledge of our duty and power to do it, and cultivating and maturing within us all right desires and habits, and leading us to all holy works. Now, all these influences and operations cer- tainly do belong to the "ministration of the Spirit;" but in what appropriate sense can any effects wrought The Gift of the Spirit. 259 in us be called "glory?" Add to them the miracles which now have ceased, and you will indeed gain a more intelligible meaning of the word, but not even then any meaning peculiar to the Gospel The Jewish Church was gifted by a more abiding superhuman presence than the Christian, and with as overpowering miracles, yet it did not possess this privilege of glory. Again, its patriarchs and teachers rose to degrees of sanctification quite as much above our power of mea- suring them as those attained by Apostles and Martyrs under the Gospel ; nor, to all human appearance, is the actual sanctification of the mass of Christians more true or complete than was that of the Jews : how then are we in a state of glory, and the Jewish Church not ? Granting then that the gift of the Spirit mentioned in Scripture includes in it both the miracles of the first ages and the influences of grace ; granting also that the sanctifying grace bestowed on each Christian is given with far greater fulness, variety, and power, than it was vouchsafed to the Jews (whether it be eventually quenched or not) ; granting, too, that holiness is really ] the characteristic of that gift which the Holy Spirit ministers now, as miracles were its outward manifes- tation in the first ages ; still all this is not a sufficient account of it ; it is not equivalent to our great Gospel privilege, which is something deeper, wider, and more mysterious, though including both miracles and graces. In truth, the Holy Ghost has taken up His abode in the Church in a variety of gifts, as a sevenfold Spirit. Tor instance, is the gift of the body's immortality mira- culous or moral ? Neither, in the common sense of the 260 The Gift of the Spirit. words ; yet it is a gift bestowed on us in this life, and by the power of the Holy Ghost, according to the texts, " Your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost;" and " He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His indwelling Spirit." 1 Again, is justification, or the application of Christ's merits to the soul, moral or miraculous? Neither; yet we are told that we are " washed, hallowed, justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." 2 Or is the gift of the Holy Ghost in Ordination miraculous or moral ? It is neither the one nor the other, but a supernatural power of ministering effectually in holy things. Once more, is communion with Christ mira- culous or moral ? On the contrary, it is a real but mysterious union of nature with Him, according to the text, " we are members of His body, from His flesh, and from His bones."3 Such reflections as these are cal- culated, perhaps, to give us somewhat of a deeper view than is ordinarily admitted, of the character of that Gift which attends on the presence of the Holy Ghost in the Church, and which is called the gift of glory. I do not say that anything that has been just said has been sufficient to define it ; rather I would maintain, that it cannot be defined. It cannot be limited ; it cannot be divided, and exhausted by a division. This is the very faultiness of the division into miraculous and moral, useful as this may be for particular purposes, that it professes to embrace what is in fact incomprehensible and unfathomable. I would fain keep from the same 1 1 Cor. vi. 19 ; Rom. viii. 11. 2 1 Cor. vi. 11. 3 2 Pet. i. 4 ; Eph. v. 30. The Gift of the Spirit. 261 mistake; and the instances already given may serve, this purpose, enlarging our view without "bounding it. The gift is denoted in Scripture by the vague and mysterious term "glory;" and all the descriptions we can give of it can only, and should only, run out into a mystery. 3. Perhaps, however, it may be questioned, whether the gift of the Spirit, now possessed by us, is really called by this name ; with a view of making this quite clear, I will here recite a number of passages in order, in addition to those with which I began ; and while I do so, I would have you observe in what close and continual connection the "Spirit," and "glory," and " heaven," occur. " The Spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you." " The God of all grace, who hath called us unto His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect." " According as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue." "Whom He did predestinate, them He also called, and whom He called, them He also justified, and whom He justified, them He also glorified," " We speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world unto our glory Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him. .... The natural man receiveth not the things 262 The Gift of the Spirit. of the Spirit of God ; for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." " Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ." [I pray] " that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the Saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead." " God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love where- with He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ (by grace ye are saved), and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus Through Him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. .... In whom [Christ] ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit." [I pray] " that He would grant you according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man ; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend, with all saints, what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height, The Gift of the Spirit. 263 and to know the love of Christ, which passeth know- ledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God." " Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for it, that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word ; that He might present it to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish." "It is impossible for those who were once illumi- nated, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, if they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance." 1 I would have you pay particular attention to this last passage, which, in speaking of those who thwart God's grace, runs through the various characteristics or titles of that glory which they forfeit : — illumination, the heavenly gift, the Holy Ghost, the Divine Word, the powers of the world to come; which all mean the same thing, viewed in different lights, viz., that un- speakable Gospel privilege, which is an earnest and portion of heavenly glory, of the holiness and blessed- ness of Angels — a present entrance into the next world, opened upon our souls through participation of the Word Incarnate, ministered to us by the Holy Ghost. Such is the mysterious state in which Christians stand, if it be right to enlarge upon it. They are in 1 1 Pet. iv. 14; v. 10 ; 2 Pet. i. 3 ; Rom. viii. 30 ; 1 Cor. ii. 7, 9, 14 ; Eph. i. 3, 17-20 ; ii 4-6, 18, 22 ; iii. 16-19 j v. 25-27 ; Heb. vi. 4-6. 264 The Gift of the Spirit. Heaven, in the world of spirits, and are placed in the way of all manner of invisible influences. " Their con' versation is in heaven ; " they live among Angels, and are within reach (as I may say) of the Saints departed. They are ministers round the throne of their reconciled Father, "kings and priests unto God," having their robes washed in the Lamb's blood, and being conse- crated as temples of the Holy Ghost. And this being so, we have some insight into the meaning of St. Paul's anxiety that his brethren should understand " the breadth and length," " the riches " of the glorious inheritance which they enjoyed, and of his forcible declaration, on the other hand, that " the natural man " could not " discern " it. If we now recur to our Saviour's words already cited, we shall find that all that the Apostles have told us in their Epistles is but an expansion of two short sentences of His : " Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into, or (as it is said just before) see the Kingdom of God" "The glory which Thou gavest me, I have given them." 1 On these texts I make the following additional remarks : — When Mco- demus doubted about our Lord's declaration, that a birth through the Spirit was the entrance into His kingdom, He said, " If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things ? And no man hath ascended up to Heaven, but He that came down from Heaven, even the Son of man which is in Heaven." In these words our Lord plainly discloses that in some mysterious way 1 John iii. 5 ; xvii. 22. The Gift of the Spirit. 265 He, the Son of man, was really in Heaven, even while, by human eyes, He was seen to be on earth. His discourse seems to run thus: — "Are you offended at the doctrine of the new birth of the soul into the king- dom of God ? High as it is, it is but an earthly truth compared with others I, as coming from Heaven, could disclose. It is mysterious how regenerate man should be a citizen of a heavenly kingdom, but I Myself, who speak, am at this moment in Heaven too, even in this My human nature." Thus the greater Mystery of the Incarnation is made to envelope and pledge to us the mystery of the new birth. As He was in Heaven in an ineffable sense, even "in the days of His flesh," so are we, in our degree; according to the words of His prayer, that His disciples might " all be one ; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us." * But He was pleased to reveal this high truth more explicitly on a subsequent occasion; I mean in His Transfiguration. To many persons this portion of the Sacred Histoiy may have appeared without object or meaning. It was, in one sense, a miracle ; yet it had no beneficent purpose or lasting consequence, as is usual with our Lord's miracles, and it took place in private. But, surely, it is of a doctrinal nature, being nothing less than a figurative exhibition of the blessed truth contained in the texts under review, a vision of the glorious Kingdom which He set up on the earth on His coming. He said to His Apostles, " I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here which shall not 1 John xvii. 21. 266 The Gift of the Spirit. taste of death till they see the Kingdom of God." Then, "after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into a high mountain apart, and was transfigured before them. And as He prayed the fashion of His countenance was altered, and His raiment was white and glistening. And His face did shine as the sun, and His raiment was white as the light And behold there talked with Him two men, which were Moses and Elias, who appeared in glory But Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep; and when they were awake, tliey saw His glory" * Such is the Kingdom of God ; Christ the centre of it, His glory the light of it, the Just made perfect His companions, and the Apostles His witnesses to their brethren. It realizes what the ancient Saints saw by glimpses — Jacob at Bethel, Moses on Sinai. Such, then, being the especial glory and "dreadful- ness " which attaches to the Christian Church, it may be asked, how far the gift is also imparted to every individual member of it? It is imparted to every member on his Baptism; as may plainly be inferred from our Lord's words, who, in His discourse with Nicodemus, makes a birth through the Spirit, which He also declares is wrought by Baptism, to be the only means of entering into His Kingdom ; so that, unless a man is thus " born of water and of the Spirit," he is in no sense a member of His Kingdom at all By this new birth the Divine Shechinah is set up within him, pervading soul and body, separating him really, 1 Matt. xvii. 1, &c. ; Luke ix. 27, &c. ; cf. John i. 14 ; 2 Pet. i. 17. The Gift of the Spirit. 267 not only in name, from those who are not Christians, raising him in the scale of being, drawing and fostering into life whatever remains in him of a higher nature, and imparting to him, in due season and measure, its own surpassing and heavenly virtue. Thus, while he carefully cherishes the Gift, he is, in the words of the text, "changed from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." On the other hand, if the Gift be resisted, it gradually withdraws its presence, and being thwarted in its chief end, the sanctification of our nature, is forfeited as regards its other benefits also. Such seems to be the rule on which the Almighty Giver acts ; and, could we see the souls of men, doubt- less we should see them after this manner: infants just baptized bright as the Cherubim, as flames of fire rising heavenward in sacrifice to God; then as they passed from childhood to man's estate, the light within them fading or strengthening as the case maybe; while of grown men the multitude, alas! might show but fearful tokens that the Lord had once been among them, only here and there some scattered witnesses for Christ remaining, and they, too, seamed all over with the scars of sin. To conclude. It were well if the views I have been setting before you, which in the main are, I trust, those of the Church Catholic from the beginning, were more understood and received among us. They would, under God's blessing, put a stop to much of the enthusiasm which prevails on all sides, while they might tend to dispel those cold and ordinary notions of religion which are the opposite extreme. Till we The Gift of the Spirit. understand that the gifts of grace are unseen, super- natural, and mysterious, we have but a choice between explaining away the high and glowing expressions of Scripture, or giving them that rash, irreverent, and self-exalting interpretation, which is one of the chief errors of this time. Men of awakened and sensitive minds, knowing from Scripture that the gift of the Holy Ghost is something great and unearthly, dis- satisfied with the meagre conceptions of the many, yet not knowing where to look for what they need, are led to place the life of a Christian, which " is hid with Christ in God," in a sort of religious ecstasy, in a high- wrought sensibility on sacred subjects, in impassioned thoughts, a soft and languid tone of feeling, and an unnatural profession of all this in conversation. And further, from the same cause, their ignorance of the supernatural character of the Heavenly Gift, they attempt to measure it in each other by its sensible effects, and account none to be Christians but those whom they suppose they can ascertain to be such, by their profession, language, and carriage. On the other hand, sensible and sober-minded men, offended at such excesses, acquiesce in the notion, that the gift of the Holy Ghost was almost peculiar to the Apostles' day, that now, at least, it does nothing more than make us decent and orderly members of society ; the privileges bestowed upon us in Scripture being, as they conceive, but of an external nature, education and the like, or, at the most, a pardon of our sins and admission to God's favour, unaccompanied by any actual and in- herent powers bestowed upon us. Such are the conse- The Gift of the Spirit. 269 quences which naturally follow, when, from one cause or other, any of those doctrines are obscured, which have been revealed in mercy to our necessities. The mind catches at the words of life, and tries to appre- hend them; and being debarred their true meaning, takes up with this or that form of error, as the case may be, in the semblance of truth, by way of compensation. . For ourselves, in proportion as we realize that higher view of the subject, which we may humbly trust is the true one, let us be careful to act up to it. Let us adore the Sacred Presence within us with all fear, and "rejoice with trembling." Let us offer up our best gifts in sacrifice to Him who, instead of abhorring, has taken up His abode in these sinful hearts of ours. Prayer, praise, and thanksgiving, "good works and alms-deeds," a bold and true confession and a self- denying walk, are the ritual of worship by which we serve Him in these His Temples. How the distinct and particular works of faith avail to our final accept- ance, we know not ; neither do we know how they are efficacious in changing our wills and characters, which, through God's grace, they certainly do. All we know is, that as we persevere in them, the inward light grows brighter and brighter, and God manifests Him- self in us in a way the world knows not of. In this, then, consists our whole duty, first in contemplating Almighty God, as in Heaven, so in our hearts and souls ; and next, while we contemplate Him, in acting towards and for Him in the works of every day; in viewing by faith His glory without and within us, and in acknowledging it by our obedience. Thus we 2 70 The Gift of the Spirit. shall unite conceptions the most lofty concerning His majesty and bounty towards us, with the most lowly, minute, and unostentatious service to Him. Lastly, the doctrine on which I have been dwelling cannot fail to produce in us deeper and more reverent feelings towards the Church of Christ, as His especial dwelling-place. It is evident we are in a much more extraordinary state than we are at all aware of. The multitude do not understand this. So it was in Israel once. There was a time when, even at Bethel, where God had already vouchsafed a warning against such ignorance, the very children of the city " mocked " His prophet, little thinking he had with him the mantle of Elijah. In an after age, the prophet Ezekiel was bid prophesy to the people, "whether they would hear or whether they would forbear ; " and, it was added, " and they, whether they will hear or whether they will forbear, yet shall know that there hath been a prophet among them."1 Let us not fear, therefore, to be but a few among many in our belief. Let us not fear opposition, sus- picion, reproach, or ridicule. God sees us; and His Angels, they are looking on. They know we are right, and bear witness to us ; and, " yet a little while, and He that cometh shall come, and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith"2 1 2 Kings ii. 23 ; Ezek. ii. 5, 7, 2 Heb. x. 37, 38. SEEMON XIX. EEGENEEATING BAPTISM. 1 COB. xii. 13. " By one Spirit are we all baptized into one Body" A S there is One Holy Ghost, so there is one only -^- visible Body of Christians which Almighty God " knows by name/' and one Baptism which admits men into it. This is implied in the text, which is nearly parallel to St. Paul's words to the Ephesians : " There is one Body, and one Spirit, one Baptism." But more than this is taught us in it ; not only that the Holy Ghost is in the Church, and that Baptism admits into it, but that the Holy Ghost admits by means of Baptism, that the Holy Ghost baptizes ; in other words, that each individual member receives the gift of the Holy Ghost as a preliminary step, a condition, or means of his being incorporated into the Church ; or, in our Saviour's words, that no one can enter, except he be regenerated in order to enter it. Now, this is much more than many men are willing to grant, their utmost concession being, that the Church has the presence of the Holy Spirit in it, and therefore, to be in the Church is to be in that which has the 272 Regenerating Baptism. presence of the Holy Spirit ; that is, to be in the way of the Spirit (so to speak), which cannot but be a state of favour and privilege ; but, that the Holy Spirit is given to infants, one by one, on their Baptism, this they will not admit. Yet, one would think words could not be plainer than the text in proof of it ; however, they do not admit it. This defective view of the Sacrament of Baptism, for so I must not shrink from calling it, shall now be con- sidered, and considered in its connection with a popular argument for the Baptism of infants, which, most true as it is in its proper place, yet is scarcely profitable for these times, as seeming to countenance the error in question. I mean, the assumed parallel between Bap- tism and Circumcision. It is undeniable that Circumcision in some important respects resembles Baptism, and may allowably, nay, usefully be referred to in illustration of it. Circum- cision was the entrance into the Jewish Covenant, and it typified the renunciation of the flesh. In respects such as these it resembles Baptism ; and hence it has been of service in the argument for Infant Baptism, as having been itself administered to infants. But, though it resembles Baptism in some respects, it is unlike it in others more important. When, then, it is found to be the chief and especially approved argument in favour of Infant Baptism among Christians, there is reason for some anxiety, lest this circumstance should betoken, or introduce, insufficient views of a Christian Sac ^ament. This remark, I fear, is applicable in the present day. Regenerating Baptism. 273 "We baptize infants, in the first place, because the Church has ever done so ; and, to say nothing of the duty of observing and transmitting what we have re- ceived, in the case of so great a privilege as Baptism, we should be ungrateful and insensible indeed if we did not give our children the benefit of the usage, even though Scripture said not a word on the subject, so that it said nothing the other way. But, besides, we consider we do find, in our Saviour's words, a command to bring children to Him, for His blessing. Again, He said they were to be members of His Kingdom ; also, that Baptism is the only entrance, the new birth into it- We administer, then, Baptism to children as a sure "benefit to their souls. But, when men refuse to admit the doctrine of Baptismal Regeneration in the case of infants, then they look about how they may defend Infant Baptism, which, perhaps, from habit, good feeling, or other causes, they do not like to abandon. The ordinary and intelli- gible reason for the Baptism of infants, is the securing to them remission of sins, and the gift of the Holy Ghost — Eegeneration : but if this sacred privilege is not given to them in Baptism, why, it may be asked, should Baptism be administered to them at all ? Why not wait till they can understand the meaning of the rite, and can have faith and repentance themselves ? Cer- tainly it does seem a very intricate and unreasonable proceeding; first, to lay stress on the necessity, of repentance and faith in persons to be baptized, and then to proceed to administer Baptism universally in such a way as to exclude the possibility of their having [in] S 274 Regenerating Baptism. repentance and faith. I say, this would be strange and inconsistent, were not Baptism, in itself, so direct a blessing that, when parents demand it for their children, all abstract rules must, in very charity, necessarily give way. We administer it whenever we do not discover some actual obstacle in the recipient to hinder its efficacy, as we give medicine to the sick. Otherwise the objection holds; and, accordingly, clear-sighted men, who deny its regenerating power in the case of infants, often do come to the conclusion that to admin- ister it to them is a needless and officious act, nay, a profanation of a sacred institution. It seems to them a mockery to baptize them; the waste of an edifying rite, not to say a Sacrament, upon those who cannot understand or use it ; and, to speak the truth, they do appear reasonable and straightforward in their inference, granting their premises. It does seem as if those who deny the regeneration of infants ought, if they were consistent (which happily they are not), to refrain from baptizing them. Surely, if we go by Scripture, the question is decided at once ; for no one can deny that there is much more said in Scripture in behalf of the connection between Baptism and Divine grace, than about the duty of Infant Baptism. The passage can scarcely be named, in the New Testament, where Bap- tism is referred to, without the mention, direct or indi- rect, of spiritual influences. What right have we to put asunder what God has united ? especially since, on the other hand, the text cannot be found which plainly enjoins the Baptism of infants. If the doctrine and the practice are irreconcilable — Baptismal Eegeneration Regenerating Baptism. 275 and Infant Baptism — let the practice, which is not written in Scripture, yield to the doctrine which is; and let us (if we can bear to do so) defraud infants of Baptism, not Baptism of its supernatural virtue. Let us go counter to Tradition rather than to Scripture. This being the difficulty which comes upon those who deny the Eegeneration, yet would retain the Baptism of infants, let us next see how they meet it. We need not suppose that all I am drawing out passes through the mind of every one who denies that infants are regenerated in Baptism : but, surely, some such pro- cesses of thought are implied, which it may be useful to ourselves to trace out. This being understood, I observe that the partly assumed and partly real parallel of Circumcision comes, in fact, whether they know it or not, as a sort of refuge to those who have taken up this intermediate position between Catholic doctrine and heretical practice. They avail themselves of the in- stance of Circumcision as a proof that a divinely- appointed ordinance need not convey grace, even while it admits into a state of grace ; and they argue from the analogy between Circumcision and Baptism, that what was the case with the Mosaic ordinance is the case with the Christian also. Circumcision admitted to certain privileges, to the means of grace, to teaching, and the like; Baptism, they consider, does the same and no more. It has also the same uses as Circumcision, in teaching the necessity of inward sanctification, and im- plying the original corrupt condition of our nature. In like manner, it ought to be administered to infants, since Circumcision was so administered under the Law. 276 Regenerating Baptism. I do not deny that this view is consistent with itself, and plausible. And it would be perfectly satisfactory, as a view, were it Scriptural. But the plain objection to it is, that Christ and His Apostles do attach a grace to the ordinance of Baptism, such as is not attached in the Old Testament to Circumcision — which is exactly that difference which makes the latter a mere rite, the former a Sacrament ; and if this be so, it is nothing to the purpose to build up an argument on the assumption that the two ordinances are precisely the same. Surely we have forgotten, in good measure, the difference between Jewish Ordinances and Christian. It was said of old time, after St. Paul, " The Law has a shadow, the Gospel an image, Heaven the reality ; " or, in other words, that of those heavenly blessings which the Jewish Dispensation prefigured, the Christian imparts a portion or earnest. This, then, is the dis- tinction between our ritual and the Mosaic. The Jewish rites had no substance of blessing in them ; they were but outward signs and types of spiritual privileges. They had in them no " grace and truth." When the Divine Antitype came, they were simply and merely in the way ; they did but hide from the eye of faith the reality which they had been useful in introducing. They were as the forerunners in a procession, who, after announcing their Prince's coming, must themselves retire, or they crowd his path. Nor these alone, but all mere ceremonies were tiien for ever unseasonable, as mere obstacles intercepting the Divine light. Yet, while Christ abolished them, considered as means of expiation or mere badges of profession, or as prophetical Regenerating Baptism. 277 types of what was no longer future, He introduced another class of ordinances in their stead ; Mysteries, as they are sometimes called, among which are the Sacraments, viz., rites as valueless and powerless in themselves as the Jewish, but being, what the Jewish were not, instruments of the application of His merits to individual believers. Though He now sits on the right hand of God, He has, in one sense, never left the world since He first entered it ; for, by the ministration of the Holy Ghost, He is really present with us in an unknown way, and ever imparts Himself to those who seek Him. Even when visibly on earth He, the Son of Man, was still " in heaven ; " and now, though He is ascended on high, He is still on earth. And as He is still with us, for all that He is in heaven, so, again, is the hour of His cross and passion ever mystically present, though it be past these eighteen hundred years. Time and space have no portion in the spiritual Kingdom which He has founded ; and the rites of His Church are as mysterious spells by which He annuls them both. They are not like the Jewish ordinances, long and laborious, expensive or irksome, with aught of value or merit in themselves : they are so simple, so brief, with so little of outward substance, that the mind is not detained for a moment from Him who works by means of them, but takes them for what they really are, only so far outward as to serve for a medium of the heavenly gift. Thus Christ shines through them, as through transparent bodies, without impediment. He is the Light and Life of the Church, acting through it, dispensing of His fulness, knitting and compacting 278 Regenerating Baptism. together every part of it ; and these its Mysteries are I not mere outward signs, but (as it were) effluences of His grace developing themselves in external forms, as Angels might do when they appeared to men. He has touched them, and breathed upon them, when He ordained them ; and thenceforth they have a virtue in them, which issues forth and encircles them round, till the eye of faith sees in them no element of matter afc all. Once for all He hung upon the cross, and blood and water issued from His pierced side, but by the Spirit's ministration, the blood and water are ever flowing, as though His cross were really set up among us, and the baptismal water were but an outward image meeting our senses. Thus in a true sense that water is not what it was before, but is gifted with new and spiritual qualities. Not as if its material substance were changed, which our eyes see, or as if any new nature were imparted to it, but that the lifegiving Spirit, who could make bread of stones, and sustain animal life on dust and ashes, applies the blood of Christ through it ; or according to the doctrine of the text, that He, and not man, is the baptizer. St. Paul sets this great truth before us, among other places, in the second chapter of his Epistle to the Colossians. First, he says, " In Christ dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, and ye have fulness in Him, who is the Head of all principality and power." Here the most solemn and transporting doctrine of the Incarnation is disclosed to us, as the corner stone of the whole Church system; "the Word made flesh," being the divinely appointed "Way whereby we are regenerated Regenerating Baptism. 279 and saved. The Apostle then proceeds to describe the manner in which this divine fulness is imparted to us, and in so doing contrasts the Jewish ceremony of Circumcision with the spiritual Ordinance which has superseded it. "In whom also," in Christ, "ye are circumcised with a circumcision made without hands," heavenly, supernatural, invisible ; " when ye strip your- selves of the body of the sins of the flesh, and receive " the true circumcision, "the circumcision of Christ, namely, buried with Him in Baptism." Thus Baptism is a spiritual Circumcision. He continues still more plainly. " Let no man therefore judge you in meat or in drink, or in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath days ; which are a shadow of things to come, but the body is of Christ." Now if Baptism were but an outward rite, like Circumcision, how strange a proof would it be of the Gospel's superseding all outward rites, to say that it enforced Baptism! He says, "Ye have Baptism, therefore do not think of shadows," as if Baptism took the place of shadows, as if it were certainly not a shadow but a substance. Again he says, " But the body is of Christ ;" Circumcision is a shadow, but Baptism and the other Mysteries of the Church are "the lody" and that because they are " of Christ." And lastly, he speaks of the duty of "holding to the Head," that is, to Christ, " from vvhom the whole body, being nourished and knit together by joints and bands, increaseth with a godly increase." What are these joints and bands but the Christian Ordinances and Ministrations, together with those who perform them? but observe, they are of 280 Regenerating Baptism. such a nature as to subserve the "increase" of the Church. Such is St. Paul's doctrine after Christ had died; St. John the Baptist teaches the same beforehand. "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire." Doubtless there is an allusion here to the special descent of the Spirit at Pentecost; but, even taking it as such, the fulfilment of the Baptist's words • then, becomes a pledge to us of the fulfilment of our Saviour's words to Mcodemus to the end of time. He who came by fire at Pentecost, will, as He has said, come by water now. But we may reasonably consider these very words of the Baptist as referring to ordinary Christian Baptism, as well as to the miraculous Baptism of the Apostles, As if he said, " Christ's Baptism shall not be mere water, as mine is. What you see of it indeed is water, but that is but the subordinate element of it ; for it is water endued with high and supernatural qualities. Would it not surprise you if water burned like fire ? Such, and more than such, is the mystery of that water which He shall pour out on you, having a searching and efficacious influence upon the soul itself." Now, if any one says that such passages as this need not mean all I have supposed, I answer, that the ques- tion is not what they must mean, but what they do mean. I am not now engaged in proving, but in explaining the doctrine of Baptism, and in illustrating it from Scripture. To return : — hence too the Baptismal !Font is called Regenerating Baptism. 281 "the washing of regeneration" not of mere water, "and renewing of the Holy Ghost which He hath poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;" and Christ is said to have "loved the Church and given Himself for it, that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word, that He might present it to Himself a glorious Church." Further, let us consider the instances of the adminis- tration of Baptism in the Acts of the Apostles. If it be as serious a rite as I have represented, surely it must be there set forth as a great thing, and received with awe and thankfulness. !Now we shall find these expectations altogether fulfilled. For instance, on the day of Pentecost, St. Peter said to the multitude, who asked what they must do, "Eepent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." Accordingly,. " they that gladly received His word were baptized," in order to obtain these privi- leges ; and, forthwith, we hear of their continuing " in gladness and singleness of heart, praising God." Again, when the Ethiopian Eunuch had been baptized by Philip, he "went on his way rejoicing." After St. Paul had been struck down by the Saviour whom he was persecuting, and sent to Damascus, he began to pray ; but though in one sense a changed man already, he had not yet received the gift of regeneration, nor did he receive it except by the ministry of Ananias, who was sent to Him from Christ, expressly that he " might be filled with the Holy Ghost." Accordingly, Ananias said to him, "And now why tarriest thou? 282 Regenerating Baptism. arise and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord." So again Cornelius, religious man as he was, and that doubtless by God's secret aid, yet was hot received into Christ's family except by Baptism. Even the descent of the Holy Ghost upon him and his friends miraculously, while St. Peter was preaching to them, did not supersede the necessity of the Sacrament. And lastly, when the jailor at Philippi had been baptized, he " rejoiced, believing in God with all his house."1 These and similar passages seem to prove clearly the superiority of Baptism to Circumcision, as being a Sacrament ; but if they did not, what conclusion should we have arrived at ? no other than this, that Baptism is like Circumcision, but a carnal ordinance (if the words may be spoken), not a spiritual possession. See what follows. Do you not recollect how much St. Paul says in depreciation of the rites of the Jewish Law, on the ground of their being rudiments of this world, carnal ordinances ? Now if Baptism be alto- gether like Circumcision, can it, any more than they, have a place in the New Covenant? This was the very defect of the Mosaic Law, that it was but a form ; this was one part of the bondage of the Jews, that they were put under forms, which contained in them no direct or intrinsic virtue, but had their spiritual use only as obeyed for conscience' sake, and as means of prophetic instruction. Surely this cannot be our state under the Gospel: "We," says St. Paul, "when we were children," that is, Jews, " were in bondage under 1 Acts ii. 38-47 ; viii. 39 j ix. 17 ; xxii. 16 ; x. 44-48 ; xvi. 34. Regenerating Baptism. 283 the elements of the world ; but when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman .... that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father." Is it possible, then, now that the Spirit is come, we can be under dead rites and ordinances ^ It is plainly impossible. If Baptism then has no spiritual virtue in it, can it be intended for us Christians ? If it has no regenerating power, surely they only are con- sistent who reject it altogether. I will- boldly say it, we have nothing dead and earthly under the Gospel, and we act like the Judaizing Christians of old time if we submit to anything such; therefore they only are consistent, who, denying the virtue of Baptism, also deny its authority as a permanent ordinance of the Gospel. Surely it was but intended for the infancy of the Church, ere men were weaned from their attach- ment to a ritual Surely it was but an oriental custom, edifying to those who loved a symbolical worship, but needless, nay, harmful to us; harmful as impeding the prerogative Of Christian liberty, obscuring our view of the one Christian Atonement, corrupting the simplicity of our faith and trust, and profaning the dispensation of the Spirit ! I repeat it, either Baptism is an instrument of the Holy Ghost, or it has no place in Christianity. We indeed, who, in accordance with the teaching of the Church Universal, believe that it is an act of the Spirit, are under no difficulty in this matter. But let those who deny it look to themselves. They are on their own principles committing the sin 284 Regenerating Baptism. of the Galatians, and severing themselves from Christ. Surely if their doctrine be right, they may consider themselves addressed by St. Paul in his language to those early Judaizers, " 0 senseless Galatians," he would have said to them, " who hath bewitched you ? Are ye so foolish, having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? Why burden your- selves with mere ceremonies, external washings, the rudiments of the world, shadows of good things, weak, beggarly, and unprofitable elements, whereunto ye desire to be in bondage? Stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled with the yoke of bondage. Spiritual men are delivered from formal observances. If ye be bap- tized, Christ shall profit you nothing; for neither Baptism availeth anything nor want of Baptism, but faith which worketh by love. Neither Baptism availeth anything nor want of Baptism, but a new creature ; and as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them and mercy, and upon the Israel of God." Such, doubtless, is the only consistent mode of re- garding and treating this sacred ordinance, if it has no power or grace in it above a Jewish rite. We should discard it. And in whatever degree we think it thus unprofitable, so far we should discard it. If we think it but a figure in the case of children, though a Sacra- ment to grown men, we should keep from wasting upon children what would benefit them as men. And this holds good of all the ordinances of the Church ; so far as they are but outward forms, let them be abolished as parts of dead Judaism. But, praised be God ! they are Regenerating Baptism. 285 none of them such. They all have life. Christ has lodged virtue in His Church, and she dispenses it forth from her in all her words and works. Why will you not believe this ? What do you gain by so jealous and niggardly a spirit, such " slowness of heart," but the loss of thoughts full of comfort and of majesty ? To view Christ as all but visibly revealed — to look upon His ordinances, not in themselves, but as signs of His presence and power, as the accents of His love, the very form and countenance of Him who ever beholds us, ever cherishes .us — to see Him thus revealed in glory day by day — is not this to those who believe it an unspeakable privilege ? Is it not so great that a man might well wish it true from the excellence of it, and count tneni happy who are able to receive it ? And when this is all plainly revealed in Scripture, when we are expressly told that Christ washes us by Water to change us into a glorious Church, that the consecrated bread is His flesh, that He is present with His minis- ters, and is in the midst of His Church, why should we draw back, like Thomas doubting of our Lord's resurrection? "Blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed ! " Surely, so it is ; and however the world may scorn our faith, however those may despise us from whom we might expect better things, we will cheerfully bear what is a slight drawback indeed on our extreme blessedness. While they accuse us of trusting in ourselves, of trusting in our forms, and of ignorance of the Gospel, we will meekly say in our hearts, " ' Thou God, seest me : ' Thou knowest that we desire to love nothing but Thee, and to trust in nothing but the cross 286 Regenerating Baptism. of Christ ; and that we relinquish all self-reliance, and know ourselves in ourselves to have nothing but sin and misery, and esteem these ordinances of Thine not for their own sake, but as memorials of Thee and of Thy Son — memorials which He has appointed, which He has blessed, and in which, by faith, we see Him mani- fested, day by day, and through which we hope to receive the imputation of those merits, once for all wrought out on the Cross, and our only effectual help in the day of account." SEKMON XX. INFANT BAPTISM. MATT, xviii. 5. " Whoso shall receive one such little child in My name, receiveth Me" T)EEHAPS there are no words uttered by our Lord in -*- the Gospels more gracious and considerate, as well as holy, just, and good (that is, if we dare measure His words by our own sense of them), than the encourage- ment given in this text, and others of a similar character ; none, more gracious and considerate, taking into account our nature and the necessary consequence of believing the doctrines He has brought to light. He has brought to light life and immortality; but, with immortal life, He has also brought to light eternal death; He has revealed the awful truth, that the soul never dies, never ceases to think and to be conscious, to be capable of happiness or misery ; that when once a man is born into the world, neither time nor place, friend nor enemy, Angels nor devils, can touch the living principle within him ; not even himself has any power over himself; but, as he has begun, so he must continue to exist on to eternity. He has taught us, that every child, from the 288 Infant Baptism. moment of his birth, has this prospect before him ; also, that far from being sure of heaven, he is to be put on a trial, whether He will serve God or no ; nay, not only on a trial, but on a trial not on even terms ; not a trial to which he is equal, but with a strong propensity within him to the worse alternative, a tendency weighing him down to earth ; so that of himself, he cannot serve God acceptably, or even repent of his unworthy service. I say, if we knew only this, no thoughtful person could ever, without the greatest humiliation and terror, reflect on his being responsible for the existence of beings exposed to such miserable disadvantages. Surely, if we only knew the primary doctrines of the Gospel, viz., that man is a sinner by nature, and though redeemed by Christ, cannot turn to Christ of his own strength, I say, the cruelty of giving birth to poor infants, who should inherit our nature and receive from us the birthright of corruption, would be so great, that bowing the head to God's appointment, and believing it to be good and true, we could but conclude with the Apostles on one occasion, that " it were good not to marry." Our knowledge of the real condition of man in God's sight would surely lead to the breaking up of society, in proportion as it was sincerely and simply received ; for what good were it to know that Christ has died for us, if we also knew that no one is by nature able to repent and believe, and knew nothing more ? It would lead thoughtful men to think of their own personal salvation only, and thus to defraud Christ of the succession of believers, and the perpetual family of Infant Baptism. 289 Saints, which is to be the salt of the earth to the end of time and the full fruit of His passion. It is true, there is another doctrine "besides those which I have stated, viz., that Christ has not only died for sinners, but also vouchsafes from above the in- fluences of grace, to enable them to love what by nature they cannot love, and to do what they cannot do — to believe and obey. But even this would not be enough to remove the alarm and distress of the Christian parent. For, though God mercifully gives His grace to enable men to believe in His Son, yet it is as certain as the truth of Scripture itself, that He does not give His grace to all, but to those to whom He will. If any word of Scripture be true, it is this — that there is an election, that "it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy," that some men are brought near unto God, and gifted with His regenerating grace, and others not; so that, although we knew ever so much concerning the gift of the Holy Ghost, as well as concerning the meritorious death of Christ, yet, that knowledge would not tend a whit more to reconcile religious men to what they must cer- tainly consider the cruelty, and the personal responsi- bility of becoming a parent. I would say, then, that if this were all we knew on the subject, no one of any seriousness could bear the thought of adding to this world's " children of wrath," except an express divine command obliged him to do so. If even a single deliberate act of sin be (as it is) a great and fearful matter, mortal and damnable, yet what is any sin, say blasphemy, murder, idolatry, even the [in] T 290 Infant Baptism. greatest, what would it be to the giving being to a soul intelligent, individual, accountable, fraught with all the sensibilities and affections which belong to human nature, capable of pain, immortal, and in due season manifesting a will incurably corrupt, and a heart at enmity with God, even though there were the chance that possibly it might be one of those who were elected for eternal life? There can be no doubt that if we know no more of the Gospel than I have hitherto men- tioned, if we content ourselves with that half Gospel which is sometimes taken for the whole, none would be so selfish anl so unfeeling as we, who could be content, for the sake of worldly comforts, a cheerful home, and the like, to surround ourselves with those, about whom, dearly as we loved them, and fervently as we might pray for them, we only knew thus much, that there was a chance — a chance of some sort that, perhaps, they might be in the number of the few whom Christ rescues from the curse of original sin. Let us now see how His gracious words contained in the text remove the difficulty. In truth, our Merciful Saviour has done much more for us than reveal the wonderful doctrines of the Gospel ; He has enabled us to apply them. He has given us directions as well as doctrines, and while giving them has imparted to us especial encouragement and comfort. What an inactive useless world this would be, if the sun's light did not diffuse itself through the air and fall on all objects around us, enabling us to see earth and sky as well as the sun itself ! Cannot we conceive nature so constituted that the sun appeared as a bright Infant Baptism. 291 spot in the heavens, while the heavens themselves were black as in the starlight, and the earth dark as night ? Such would have been our religious state, had not our Lord applied and diversified and poured to and fro, in heat and light, those heavenly glories which are con- centrated in Him. He would shine upon us from above in all His high attributes and offices, as the Prophet, Priest, and King of His elect ; but how should we bring home His grace to ourselves ? How indeed should we gain, and know we gain, an answer to our prayers — how secure the comfortable assurance that He loves us per- sonally, and will change our hearts, which we feel to be so earthly, and wash away our sins, which we confess to be so manifold, unless He had given us Sacraments — means and pledges of grace — keys which open the treasure-house of mercy — ordinances in which we not only ask, but receive, and know we receive, all we can receive as accountable beings (not, indeed, the certainty of heaven, for we are still in the flesh), but the cer- tainty of God's present favour, the certainty that He is reconciled to us, will work in us and with us all right- eousness, will so supply our need, that henceforth we shall lack nothing for the completion and overflowing sanctification of our defective and sinful nature, but have all, and more than all that Adam ever had in his first purity, all that the highest Archangel or Seraph ever had, when on his trial whether he would stand or fall ? For instance, in the particular case I have been con- sidering, our gracious Lord has done much more than tell us that some souls are elected to the mercies of redemption and others not. He has not left Christians 292 Infant Baptism. thus uncertain about their children. He has expressly assured us that children are in the number of His chosen ; and, if you ask, whether all children, I reply, all children you can bring to Baptism, all children who are within reach of it. So literally has He fulfilled His promise : " Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money come ye buy and eat ; yea, come buy wine and milk without money and without price!" and again, "All that the Father giveth me shall come to Me, and him that cometh to Me, I will in no wise cast out." He has disclosed His secret election in a visible Sacrament, and thus enables Christians to bear to be, what otherwise they would necessarily shrink from being — parents. He relieves, my brethren, your anxious minds, anxious (as they must ever be) for your children's welfare, even after all the good pro- mises of the Gospel, but unspeakably anxious before you understand how you are to be rid of the extreme responsibility of bestowing an eternal being upon sin- ful creatures whom you cannot change. With the tenderest feeling He removes your difficulty. He bids you bring them to Him from the first, and then take and educate them in His name. Like Pharaoh's daughter, He takes them up when you, their natural kin, have been forced to abandon them to inevitable death ; and then He gives them back to you to nurse for His sake. " Suffer the little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not, for of such is the king- dom of God."1 Again in the text, "Whoso shall 1 Mark x. 14. Infant Baptism. 293 receive one such little child in My name, receiveth Me." Observe how He speaks, as if He would give you some great and urgent encouragement; not only does He give permission, but He promises a reward to those who dedicate children to Him. He not only bids us do the very thing we wish to do, but bestows on the doing it a second blessing. He promises that if we bring children to Him for His blessing, He will bless us for bringing them ; if we receive them for His sake, He will make it as if we received Himself, which is the greatest reward He could give us. Thus, while we are engaged in this work of receiving children in His name, let us recollect, to our great comfort, that we are about no earthly toil ; we are taking part in a joyfcd solemnity, in a blessed and holy ordinance, in which our Saviour Christ not only comes to them, but is spiritually received into our own souls. These reflections arise on the first view of the subject. However, it may be objected, that, after all, numbers fall away from God, even with the advantages of Baptism, and if so, the birth of children is not a less awful subject of contemplation now than before, nay rather more so, inasmuch as a heavier doom awaits those who sin after grace given, than those who have not received it. But this objection surely brings us to a very different question. What I have been saying comes to this : — that a child seems by its very nature, which is corrupt and ungodly, to complain of those parents who gave it him ; I mean, seems to do so in the parents' estimation, when they think of him. Their tender love towards 294 Infant Baptism. him is humbled and distressed by this thought : " This dear and helpless object of our affection is a sinner through his parents, shapen in iniquity, conceived in sin, born a child of wrath." Now, I conceive this dreadful thought is at once removed, directly it is known that they who gave him his natural being may also bring him to a second birth, in which original sin is washed away, and such influences of grace given and promised as make it a child's own fault, if he, in the event, fails of receiving an eternal inheritance of blessed- ness in God's presence. They undo their own original injury. Now that Christ receives us in our infancy, no one has any ground for complaining of his fallen nature. He receives by birth a curse, but by Baptism a blessing, and the blessing is the greater; and to murmur now against his condition is all one with murmuring against his being created at all, his being created as a responsible being, which is a murmuring, not against man, but against God ; for though it was man who has made our nature inclined to evil, yet, that we are beings on a trial, with moral natures, a power to do right or wrong, and a capacity of happiness or misery, is not man's work, but the Creator's. Thus parents being allowed to bestow a second birth upon their offspring, henceforth do but share and are sheltered in His responsibility (if I may dare so to speak), who is ever "justified in His sayings, and overcomes when He is judged." However, it may be asked, how this applies to the case of the heathen ? They cannot bring their children to Baptism, therefore they do incur the responsibility of Infant Baptism. 295 giving being to souls who live and die in the wrath of God. I answer, that a man cannot be responsible for that about which he is altogether ignorant. The heathen have no knowledge of the real state of mankind, and therefore they can have none of the duties which arise out of that knowledge. None of us, not even Christians, know fully our own condition, and the consequences of our actions; else, doubtless, we should be too much overpowered to act at all Did we see the complete consequences of any one sin, did we see how it spreads by the contagion of example and influence through the world, how many souls it injures, and what its eternal effects are, doubtless we should become speechless and motionless, as though we saw the flames of hell fire. Enough light is given us to direct us, and to make us responsible beings, not so much as to overwhelm us. We are not told the secret of our guilty nature, till we are told the means to escape from it ; we are not told of God's fearful wrath, till we are told of His love in Christ. The heathen do not know of Baptism, but they do not know of original sin ; for God would allot fear, faith, and hope to all men, despair to none. Again, the heathen know nothing of * the eternity of future punishment, yet our Lord, in His account of the Judgment, when " all nations " shall be gathered before Him, does not except them from the risk of it. They know neither of eternal death nor eternal life. Let us leave the case of the heathen, about which nothing has been revealed to us ; they are in the hand of God, the righteous and merciful God ; " Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right ? " 1 1 Gen. xviii. 25. 296 Infant Baptism. But further, it may be objected that though Baptism is vouchsafed to the children of Christian parents, yet we are expressly assured that the few, not the many, shall be saved ; so that the gift, however great, does not remove the difficulty in our way, or make it less of a risk to bring into existence those who are more likely to be among the wretched many than the blessed few. But, surely, this is a misconception of our Saviour's words. Where does He say that only few of the children of His sincere followers shall be saved ? He says, indeed, that there will be but few out of the whole multitude of the regenerate; and the greater number of them, as we know too well, are disobedient to their calling. No wonder if their children turn out like themselves, and live to this world. But, because the mass of men abuse their privileges, which we see they do, and because we dare not entertain any sanguine hopes of the children of careless parents, how does this prove that those who do live in God's faith and fear, and are labouring and tending to be in the number of the elect few, may not cherish the confidence that their children, in like manner, will in due season obey God's calling, yield to His Holy Spirit, "be made like the image of His Only-begotten Son, walk religiously in good works," and at length attain to everlasting glory ? Solomon, even under the Law, assures us that, if "a child be trained up in the way he should go, when he is old he will not depart from it." 1 Much more (please God) will this be true, where the parents' prayers and the children's training are preceded by the grant of so 1 Prov. xxii. 6. Infant Baptism 297 great and present a benefit as regenerating Baptism; much more, when His Son has so graciously made the little children patterns to grown men, declaring that then, and then only, we become true members of His Kingdom when we become like them, and when, in sign of His favour " He took them up in His arms, put His hands upon them, and blessed them." Let a man con- sider how much is contained in the declaration, that God " hath not appointed us unto wrath, but to obtain salvation ; " x and he will feel that he may safely trust his children to their Lord and Saviour — reluctance being no longer a serious prudence, but an unbelieving and unthankful jealousy, and the care of them no bur- densome nor sorrowful toil, though an anxious one, but a labour of love, a joyful service done to Christ. Lastly, it may still be asked what encouragement after all has been gained through Christian Baptism, which we should not have had without it, since it seems the children's hopes are to be ultimately rested not on the Sacrament administered, but on the parents' faith and prayers and careful training of them. These means, it may be objected, might and would have been used by religious men, even though they had known only of Christ's merits and gifts without direction how to convey and apply them to individuals ; they would have prayed and been careful then, and so gained grace for their children, and they can do no more now. But can you indeed thus argue? What! is there no difference between asking and receiving ? — for prayer is an asking and Baptism is a receiving. Is there no 1 Thess. v. 9. 298 Infant Baptism. difference between a chance and a certainty? How many infants die in their childhood ! is it no difference between knowing that a child is gone to heaven, or that he has died as he was born ? But supposing a child lives, is not regeneration a real gain ? does not it renew our nature, exalt us in the scale of being, give us additional powers, open upon us untold blessings, and moreover brighten in an extreme degree the prospect of our salvation, if religious training follows ? I will say more. Many men die without any signs of confirmed holiness, or formed character one way or the other. We know, indeed, that privileges not improved will save no one; but we do not know, we cannot pro- nounce, whether in souls where there is but a little strength, yet much conflict, and much repentance, their regeneration may not, as in the case with children, avail them hereafter in some secret manner which, with our present knowledge, we cannot speak about or imagine. Surely it is not a slight benefit to have been ^made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and tasted of the heavenly gift and the powers of the world to come."1 Now, I trust that these considerations may suffice, through God's grace, to open on you a more serious view of the subject treated of, than is often taken even by those who are not without religious thoughts upon it. I fear, indeed, that most men, though they profess and have a regard for religion, yet have very low and contracted notions of the dignity of their station as Christians. To be a Christian is one of the most wondrous and awful gifts in the world. It is, in one i Heb. vi. 4, 5, Infant Baptism. 299 sense, to be higher than Angel or Archangel. If we have any portion of an enlightened faith, we shall understand that our state, as members of Christ's Church, is full of mystery. What so mysterious as to be born, as we are, under God's wrath? What so mysterious as to be redeemed by the death of the Son of God made flesh ? What so mysterious as to receive the virtue of that death one by one through Sacra- ments? What so mysterious as to be able to teach and train each other in good or evil ? When a man at all enters into such thoughts, how is his view changed about the birth of children ! in what a different light do his duties, as a parent, break upon him ! The notion entertained by most men seems to be, that it is a pleasant thing to have a home; — this is what would be called an innocent and praiseworthy reason for marrying; — that a wife and family are comforts. And the highest view a number of persons take is, that it is decent and respectable to be a married man; that it gives a man a station in society, and settles him. All this is true. Doubtless wife and children are blessings from God: and it is praise- worthy and right to be domestic, and to live in orderly and honourable habits. But a man who limits his view to these thoughts, who does not look at marriage and at the birth of children as something of a much higher and more heavenly nature than anything we see, who does not discern in Holy Matrimony a divine ordinance, shadowing out the union between Christ and the Church, and does not associate the birth of children with the Ordinance of their new birth, such a 300 Infant Baptism. one, I can only say, has very carnal views. It is well to go on labouring, year after year, for the bread that perisheth ; and if we are well off in the world, to take interest and pleasure in our families rather than to seek amusements out of doors ; it is very well, but it is not religion; and let us endeavour to make our feelings towards them more and more religious. Let us beware of aiming at nothing higher than their being educated well for this world, their forming respectable connec- tions, succeeding in their callings, and settling well. Let us never think we have absolved ourselves from the responsibility of being their parents, till we have brought them to Christ, as in Baptism, so by religious training. Let us bear in mind ever to pray for their eternal salvation ; let us " watch for their souls as those who must give account." Let us remember that salva- tion does not come as a matter of course ; that Baptism, though administered to them once and long since, is- never past, always lives in them as a blessing or as a burden : and that though we may cherish a joyful con- fidence that " He who hath begun a good work in them will perform it," then only have we a right to cherish it, when we are doing our part towards fulfilling it. SERMON XXL THE DAILY' SERVICE. HEB. x. 25. " Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another; and so much the more, as ye see the Day approaching" fTlHE first Christians set up the Church in continual prayer "They persevering daily with one mind in the Temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did share their food with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God."1 St. Paul in his Epistles binds their example upon their successors for ever. Indeed, we could not have conceived, even if he and the other Apostles had been silent, that such a solemn opening of the Gospel, as that contained in the book of Acts, was only of a temporary nature, and not rather a specimen of what was to take place among the elect people in every age, and a shadow of that perfect service which will be their blessedness in heaven. However, St. Paul removes all doubt on this subject by expressly enjoining this united and unceasing prayer in various passages of his Epistles ; as for instance, " I will . . . that men 1 Acts ii. 46, 47. 302 The Daily Service. pray in every place, lifting up holy hands."1 "Perse- vere in prayer, and watch in the same with thanks- giving ;"2 and in the text. But it will be said, " Times are altered ; the rites and observances of the Church are local and occasional; what was a duty then, need not be a duty now, even though St. Paul happens to enjoin it on those whom he addresses. Such continual prayer was the particular form which the religion of the early Christians took, and ours has taken another form." Do not suppose, because I allow myself thus to word the objection, that I therefore, for an instant, allow that continual united prayer may religiously be considered a mere usage or fashion ; but so it is treated — so, perhaps, some of us in our secret hearts have at times been tempted to imagine ; that is, we have been disposed to think that public worship at intervals of a week has in it something of natural fitness and reasonableness which continual week- day worship has not. Still, supposing it — granting daily worship to be a mere observance, or an usage, while Sunday worship is not — calling it by any title the most slighting and disparaging — the question returns, was this observance or usage of continual united prayer intended by the Apostles, for every age of the Church, or only for the early Christians ? A precept may be but positive, not simply moral, and yet of perpetual obligation. Now, I answer confidently, that united prayer, unceasing prayer, is enjoined by St. Paul, in a passage just cited, from an Epistle which lays down rules for the govern- ment and due order of the Church to the end of time. 1 1 Tim. ii. 8. 2 Col. iv. 2. The Daily Service. 303 More plausibly even might we desecrate Sunday, which he does not mention in it, than neglect continual prayer, which he does. Observe how explicitly he speaks, " I will therefore that men pray in every place;" — not only at Jerusalem, not only at Corinth, not only in Borne, but even in England ; in England at this day, in our secluded villages, in our rich populous busy towns, whatever be the importance of those secular objects which absorb our thoughts and time. Or, again, take the text, and consider whether it favours the notion of a change or relaxation of the primitive custom. "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is, but ex- horting one another; and so much the more, as ye see the Day approaching." The increasing troubles of the world, the fury of Satan, and the madness of the people, the dismay of sun, moon, and stars, distress of nations with perplexity, men's hearts failing them for fear, the sea and the waves roaring, all these gathering tokens of God's wrath are but calls upon us for greater persever- ance in united prayer. Let those men especially consider this, who say that we are but dreaming of centuries gone by, missing our mark and born out of time, when we insist on such duties and practices as are now merely out of fashion ; those who point to the tumult and fever which agitates the whole nation, and say we must be busy and troubled too, in order to respond to it ; who say that the tide of events has set in one way, and that we must give in to it, if we would be practical men ; that it is idleness to attempt to stem a current, which it will be a great thing even to direct : that since the 304 The Daily Service. present age loves conversing and hearing about religion, and does not like silent thought, patient waiting, recur- ring prayers, severe exercises, that therefore we must obey it, and, dismissing rites and sacraments, convert the Gospel into a rational faith, so called, and a religion of the heart ; let these men seriously consider St. Paul's exhortation, that we are to persevere in prayer — and that in every place — and the more, the more troubled and perplexed the affairs of this world become; not indeed omitting active exertions, but not, on that account, omitting prayer. I have spoken of St. Paul, but, consider how this rule of "continuing in prayer" is exemplified in St. Peter's history also. He had learned from his Saviour's pattern not to think prayer a loss of time. Christ had taken him up with Him into the holy mount, though multi- tudes waited to be healed and taught below. Again, before His passion, He had taken him into the garden of Gethsemane ; and while He prayed Himself, He called upon him likewise to "watch and pray lest he entered into temptation." In consequence, St. Peter warns us in his first Epistle, as St. Paul in the text, "The end of all things is at hand, be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer."1 And, in one memorable passage of his history, he received a revelation of a momentous and most gracious truth, when he was at his prayers. Who would not have said that he was wasting his time, when he retired to the house of Simon at Joppa, for many days, and went up upon the house- top to pray, about the sixth hour ? Was that, it might 1 1 Pet. iv. 7. The Daily Service. 305 be asked, the part of an Apostle, whose commission was to preach the Gospel ? Was he thus burying his light, instead of meeting the exigencies of the time ? Yet, there God met him, and put a word in his mouth. There he learned the comfortable truth that the Gen- tiles were no longer common or unclean, but admissible into the Covenant of Grace. And if continual prayer was the employment of an Apostle, much more was it observed by those Christians who were less prominently called to labour. Accordingly, when St. Peter was in prison, prayers were offered for him, " without ceasing," by the Church ; and to those prayers he was granted. When miraculously released, and arrived at the house of Mary, the mother of Mark, he found " many gathered together praying."1 Stated and continual prayer, then, and especially united prayer, is plainly the duty of Christians. And if we ask how often we are to pray, I reply, that we ought to consider prayer as a plain privilege, directly we know that it is a duty, and therefore that the ques- tion is out of place. Surely, when we know we may approach the Mercy-seat, the only further question is, whether there be anything to forbid us coming often, anything implying that such frequent coming is pre- sumptuous and irreverent. So great a mercy is it to be permitted to come, that a humble mind may well ask, " Is it a profane intrusion to come when I will ? " If it be not, such a one will rejoice to come continually. Now, by way of removing these fears, Scripture contains most condescending intimations that we may come at 1 Acts xii. 12. [Ill] U 306 The Daily Service. all times. For instance, in the Lord's Prayer petition is made for daily bread for this day; therefore, our Saviour intended it should be used daily. Further, it is said, " give us" " forgive us ; " therefore it may fairly be presumed to be given us as a social prayer. Thus in the Lord's Prayer itself there seems to be sanction for daily united prayer. Again, if we consider His words in the parable, twice a day at least seems permitted us, " Shall not God avenge His own elect, which cry day and night unto Him?"1 though this is to take the words according to a very restricted interpretation. And since Daniel prayed three times a day, and the Psalmist even seven, under the Law, we may infer, that Christians, certainly, are not irreverent, nor incur the blame of using vain repetitions, though they join in many Services. Now, I do not see what can be said in answer to these arguments, imperfect as they are compared with the whole proof that might be adduced, except that some of the texts cited may, perhaps, refer to mere secret prayer almost without words, and some speak primarily of private prayer. Yet it is undeniable, on the other hand, that united prayer, not private or secret, is princi- pally intended in those passages of the New Testament, which speak of prayer at all ; and if so, the remainder may be left to apply indirectly or not, as we chance to decide, without interfering with a conclusion otherwise drawn. If, however, it be said that family prayer is a fulfilment of the duty, without prayer in Church, I reply, that I am not at all speaking of it as a duty, but 1 Luke xviii. 7. The Daily Service. 307 as a privilege ; I do not tell men that they must come to Church, so much as declare the glad tidings that they may. This surely is enough for those who " hunger and thirst after righteousness," and humbly desire to see the face of God. Now, I will say a few words on the manner in which the early Christians fulfilled this duty. Quite at first, when the persecutions raged, they assembled when and where they could. At times they could but avail themselves of Christ's promise, that if two of His disciples " agree on earth, as touching any- thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of their Heavenly Father ; " though, by small parties, and in the towns, they seem to have met together continu- ally from the first. Gradually, as they grew stronger, or as they happened to be tolerated, they made full proof of their sacred privilege, and showed what was the desire of their hearts. Their most solemn Service took place on the Lord's day, as might be expected, when the Holy Eucharist was celebrated.1 Next to Sunday came Wednesday and Friday, when, also, assemblies for worship con- tinued till three o'clock in the afternoon, and were observed with fasting; in some places with the Eucharist also. Saturday, too, was observed in certain branches of the Church with especial devotion, the Holy Mysteries being solemnized and other Services performed as on the Lord's day. Next must be mentioned, the Festivals of the Martyrs, when, in addition to the sacred Services used on tha 1 Bingham's Antiq., xiii. 9. 308 The Daily Service. Lord's day, there was read some account of the particu- lar Martyr commemorated, with exhortations to follow his pattern. These holydays, whether Sunday or Saint's day, were commonly ushered in by a Vigil or religious watching, as you find it noted down in the Calendar at the beginning of the Prayer-Book. These lasted through the night. Moreover, there were the sacred Seasons ; such as the forty days of Lent for fasting, and the fifty days between Easter and Whitsuntide for rejoicing. Such was the course of special devotions in the early Church ; but, besides, every day had its ordinary Services, viz., prayer morning and evening. Besides these, might be mentioned the prayers at the canonical hours, which were originally used for private, but, at length, for united worship ; viz., at the third hour, or nine in the morning, in commemoration of the Holy Ghost's descent at Pentecost at that hour; at the sixth, the time of St. Peter's vision at Joppa, in memory of our Saviour's crucifixion ; and at the ninth, in memory of His death, which was the hour when St. Peter and St. John went up to the Temple and healed the lame man. It may be added, that in some places the Holy Eucharist was celebrated and partaken daily. This is by no means a full enumeration of the sacred Services in the early Church; but it is abundantly sufficient for my purpose, which is to show how highly they valued the privilege of united prayer, and how literally they understood the words of Christ and His The Daily Service. 309 Apostles. I am by no means contending, that every point of discipline and order in this day must be pre- cisely the same as it was then. Christians then had more time on their hands than many of us have ; and certain peculiarities of the age and place might combine to allow them to do what we cannot do. Still, so far must be clear to every candid person who considers the state of the case, that they found some sort of pleasure in prayer which we do not ; that they took delight in an exercise, which — (I am afraid I must say, though it seems profane even to say it) — which we should con- sider painfully long and tedious. This too is worth observing of the primitive Chris- tians, that they united social and private prayer in their Service. On holydays, for instance, when it was extended till three o'clock in the afternoon, they commenced with singing the Psalms, in the midst of which two Lessons were read, as is usual with us, commonly one from the Old and one from the New Testament. But in some places, instead of these Lessons, after every Psalm, a short space was allowed for private prayer to be made in silence, much in the way we say a short prayer on coming into and going out of Church. After the Psalms and Lessons came the Sermon, the more solemn prayers having not yet begun. Shortly after, followed the celebration of the Holy Communion, which again was introduced by a time of silence for private prayer, such as we at this day are allowed during the administration of the Sacred Elements to other communicants. And in this way they lengthened out and varied their 3io The Daily Service. Services; principally, that is, by means of private prayers and psalms : so that, when no regular course of service was proceeding, yet the Church might be full of people, praying in secret and confessing their sins, or singing together psalms or hymns. Thus exactly did they fulfil the Scripture precepts — "Is any among you afflicted? let him pray; is any merry? let him sing psalms," and "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom ; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord."1 I have now said enough to let you into the reasons why I lately began Daily Service in this Church. I felt that we were very unlike the early Christians, if we went on without it ; and that it was my business to give you an opportunity of observing it, else I was keeping a privilege from you. If you ask, why I did not commence it before? I will rather tell you why I began just at this time. It was, that the state of public affairs was so threatening, that I could not bear to wait longer ; for there seemed quite a call upon all Christians to be earnest in prayer, so much the more, as they thought they saw the Day of vengeance approach- ing. Under these circumstances it seemed wrong to withhold from you a privilege, for as a privilege I would entirely consider it. I wish to view it rather as a privilege than as a duty, because then all those perplexed questions are removed at once, which other- wise .beset the mind, whether a man should come or 1 James v. 13 ; Col. iii. 16. The Daily Service. 3 1 r not. Considering it in the light of a privilege, I am not obliged to blame a man for not coming. I say to him, If you cannot come, then you have a great loss. Very likely you are right in not coming; you have duties connected with your temporal calling which have a claim on you; you must serve like Martha, you have not the leisure of Mary. Well, be it so ; still you have a loss, as Martha had while Mary was at Jesus' feet. You have a loss; I do not say God cannot make it up to you; doubtless He will bless every one who continues in the path of duty. He blessed Peter in prison, and Paul on the sea, as well as the mother of Mark, or the daughters of Philip. Doubtless, even in your usual employments you can be glorifying your Saviour ; you can be thinking of Him ; you can be thinking of those who are met together in worship ; you can be following in your heart, as far as may be, the prayers they offer. Doubtless : only try to realize to yourself that continual prayer and praise is a privilege ; only feel in good earnest, what some- how the mass of Christians, after all, do not recognize, that " it is good to be here " — feel as the early Chris- tians felt when persecution hindered them from meet- ing, or, as holy David, when he cried out, " My soul is athirst for God, yea, even for the Living God ; when shall I come to appear before the presence of God?"1 feel this, and I shall not be solicitous about your coming ; you will come if you can. With these thoughts in my mind, I determined to offer to God the Daily Service here myself, in order 1 Ps. xlii. 2. 312 The Daily Service. that all might have the opportunity of coming before Him who would come; to offer it, not waiting for a congregation, but independently of all men, as our Church sanctions ; to set the example, and to save you the need of waiting for one another; and at least to give myself, with the early Christians, and St. Peter on the house-top, the benefit, if not of social, at least of private prayer, as becomes the Christian priesthood It is quite plain that far the greater part of our Daily Service, though more fitted for a congregation than for an individual (as indeed is the Lord's Prayer itself), may yet be used, as the Lord's Prayer is used, by even one person. Such is our Common Prayer viewed in itself, and our Church has in the Introduction to it expressly directed this use of it. It is there said, " All priests and deacons are to say daily the morning and evening prayer, either privately or openly, not being let by sickness, or some other urgent cause." Again, " The curate that ministereth in every parish church or chapel, being at home, and not being other- wise reasonably hindered, shall say the same in the parish church or chapel where he ministereth, and shall cause a bell to be tolled thereunto a convenient time before he begin, that people may come to hear God's word and to pray with him." Now, doubtless, there are many reasons which may render the strict observ- ances of these rules inexpedient in this or that place or time. The very disuse of them will be a reason for reviving them very cautiously and gradually; the paucity of clergy is another reason for suspending them. Still there they remain in the Prayer-Book — The Daily Service. 313 obsolete they cannot become, nay, even though torn from the book in some day of rebuke (to suppose what should hardly even be supposed), they still would have power, and live unto God. If prayers were right three centuries since, they are right now. If a Christian minister might suitably offer up common prayer by himself then, surely he may do so now. If he was then the spokesman of the saints far and near, gather- ing together their holy and concordant suffrages, and presenting them by virtue of his priesthood, he is so now. The revival of this usage is merely a matter of place and time ; and though neither our Lord nor His Church would have us make sudden alterations, even though for the better, yet certainly we ought never to forget what is abstractedly our duty, what is in itself best, what it is we have to aim at and labour towards. If authority were needed, besides our Church's own, for the propriety of Christian Ministers praying even by themselves in places of worship, we have it in the life of our great pattern of Christian faith and wisdom, Hooker. " To what he persuaded others," says his biographer, "he added his own example of fasting and prayer; and did usually every Ember week take from the parish clerk the key of the church-door, into which place he retired every day, and locked himself up for many hours; and did the like most Fridays, and other days of fasting." That holy man, in this instance, kept his prayers to himself. He was not offering up the Daily Service ; but I adduce his instance to show that there is nothing strange or unseemly in a Christian minister praying in 314 The Daily Service. church by himself ; and if so, much less when he gives his people the opportunity of coming if they will. This, then, is what I felt and feel : — it is commonly said, when week-day prayers are spoken of, " You will not get a congregation, or you will get but a few;" but they whom Christ has brought near to Himself to be the Stewards of His Mysteries depend on no man ; rather, after His pattern, they are to draw men after them. He prayed alone on the mountain ; He prays alone (for who shall join with Him ?) in His Father's presence. He is the one effectual Intercessor for sinners at the right hand of God. And what He is really, such are we in figure ; what He is meritoriously, such are we instrumentally. Such are we by His grace ; allowed to occupy His place visibly, however unworthily, in His absence, till He come ; allowed to depend on Him, and not on our people ; allowed to draw our commission from Him, not from them ; allowed to be centres, about which the Church may grow, and about which it really exists, be it great or little. Therefore, in beginning and continuing the Daily Service, I do not, will not measure the effect produced, by appearances. If we wait till all the world are wor- shippers, we must wait till the world is new made ; but, if so, who shall draw the line, and say, how many are enough to pray together, when He has told us that His flock is little, and that where two or three are gathered together in His name, He is in the midst of them ? So I account a few met together in prayer to be a type of His true Church ; not actually His true Church (God forbid the presumption !) but as a token and type of it ; The Daily Service. 315 — not as "being His elect, one by one, for who can know whom He has chosen but He who chooses ? — not as His elect for certain, for it may be a man's duty to be away, as Martha was in her place when serving, and only faulty when she thought censoriously of Mary ; — not as His complete flock, doubtless, for that were to exclude the old, and the sick, and the infirm, and little children ; — not as His select and undefiled remnant, for Judas was one of the twelve — still as the earnest and promise of His Saints, the birth of Christ in its rudiments, and the dwelling-place of the Spirit ; and precious, even though but one out of the whole number, small though it be, belong at present to God's hidden ones ; nay, though, as is likely to be the case, in none of them there be more than the dawn of the True Light and the goings forth of the morning. — Some, too, will come at times, as accident guides them, giving promise that they may one day be settled and secured within the sacred fold. Some will come in times of grief or compunction, others in preparation for the Holy Communion.1 Nor is it a service for those only who are present ; all men know the time, and many mark it, whose bodily presence is away. We have with us the hearts of many. Those who are conscious they are absent in the path of duty, will naturally turn their thoughts to the Church at the stated hour, and thence to God. They will recollect 1 It may be suggested here, that week-day services (with fasting) are the appropriate attendants on weekly communion, which has lately been advocated, especially in the impressive sermons of Mr. Dodsworth. When the one observance is used without the other, either the sacred- ness of the Lord's day is lost, from its wanting a peculiar Service, or the Eucharist is in danger of profanation, from its frequency leading us to rernissness in preparing for it. 316 The Daily Service. what prayers are then in course, and they will have fragments of them rising on their minds amid their worldly business. They will call to mind the day of the month, and the psalms used on it, and the chapters of Scripture then read out to the people. How pleasant to the wayfaring man, on his journey, to think of what is going on in his own Church ! How soothing and consolatory to the old and infirm who cannot come, to follow in their thoughts, nay, with the prayers and psalms before them, what they do not hear ! Shall not those prayers and holy meditations, separated though they be in place, ascend up together to the presence of God ? Shall not they be with their minister in spirit, who are provoked unto prayer by his service ? Shall not their prayers unite in one before the Mercy- seat, sprinkled with the Atoning Blood, as a pure offering of incense unto the Father, and an acceptable sacrifice both for the world of sinners and for His purchased Church ? Who then will dare speak of loneliness and solitude, because in man's eyes there are few worshippers brought together in one place ? or, who will urge it as a defect in our Service, even if that were the case ? Who, moreover, will so speak, when even the Holy Angels are present when we pray, stand by us as guardians, sympathize in our need, and join us in our praises ? When thoughts such as these are set before the multitude of men, they appear to some of them strained and unnatural ; to others, formal, severe, and tending to bondage. So must it be. Christ's commands will seem to be a servitude, and His privileges will be strange, till The Daily Service. 317 we act upon the one and embrace the other. To those who come in faith, to receive and to obey, who, instead of standing at a distance, reasoning, criticising, investi- gating, adjusting, hear His voice and follow Him, not knowing whither they go ; who throw themselves, their hearts and wills, their opinions and conduct, into His Divine System with a noble boldness, and serve Him on a venture, without experience of results, or skill to defend their own confidence by argument : who, when He says " Pray," " Continue in prayer," take His words simply, and forthwith pray, and that instantly; these men, through His great mercy and the power of the Holy Ghost working in them, will at length find perse- vering prayer, praise, and intercession, neither a bondage nor a barrenness. But it is in the nature of things that Christ's word must be a law while, it is good tidings. That very message of good tidings, that Christ saves sinners, is no good tidings to those who have not a heart to abandon sin ; and as no one, by nature, has this good heart, and, even under grace, no one obtains it except gradually, there must ever be a degree of bondage in the Gospel, till, by obeying the Law and creating within us a love of God and holiness, we, by little and little, enter into the meaning of His promises. May He lead us on evermore in the narrow way, who is the One Aid of all that need, the Helper of all that flee to Him for succour, the Life of them that believe, and the Eesurrection of the dead ! SEEMON XXII. THE GOOD PAET OF MART. LUKE x. 41, 42. " Martha, Martha, tJiou art careful and troubled about many things; Tmt one thing is needful : and Mary hath chosen that good part which shall not be taken away from her." TjlVEKY word of Christ is good; it has its mission -*-^ and its purpose, and does not fall to the ground.1 It cannot be that He should ever speak transitory words, who is Himself the very Word of God, uttering, at His good pleasure, the deep counsels and the holy will of Him who is invisible. Every word of Christ is good ; and did we receive a record of His sayings even from ordinary men, yet we might be sure as to what- ever was thus preserved, whether spoken to disciple or enemy, whether by way of warning, advice, rebuke, comfort, argument, or condemnation, that nothing had a merely occasional meaning, a partial scope and confined range, nothing regarded merely the moment, or the accident, or the audience ; but all His sacred speeches, though clothed in a temporary garb, and serving an immediate end, and difficult, in consequence, to disen- 1 Basil, Const. Mon. 1. The Good Part of Mary. 319 gage from what is temporary in them and immediate, yet all have their force in every age, abiding in the Church on earth, "enduring for ever in heaven," and running on into eternity. They are our rule, "holy, just, and good," " the lantern of our feet and the light of our paths," in this very day as fully and as inti- mately as when they were first pronounced. And if this had been so, though mere human dili- gence had gathered up the crumbs from His table, much more sure are we of the value of what is recorded of Him, receiving it, as we do, not from man, but from God. The Holy Ghost, who came to glorify Christ, and inspired the Evangelists to write, did not trace out for us a barren Gospel ; but doubtless, praised be His name, .selected and saved for us those words which were to have an especial usefulness in after times, those words which might be the Church's law, in faith, conduct, and discipline ; not a law written in tables of stone, but a law of faith and love, of the spirit, not of the letter; a law for willing hearts, who could bear to "live by every word," however faint and low, " which proceeded from His mouth," and who out of the seeds which the Heavenly Sower scattered, could foster into life a Paradise of Divine Truth. Let us then humbly try with this thought before us, and the help of His grace, to gain some benefit from the text. Martha and Mary were the sisters of Lazarus, who was afterwards raised from the dead. All three lived together, but Martha was mistress of the house. St. Luke mentions, in a verse preceding the text, that Christ came to a certain village, " and a certain woman, 320 The Good Part of Mary. named Martha, received Him into her house." Being then at the head of a family, she had duties which necessarily engaged her time and thoughts. And on the present occasion she was especially busy, from a wish to do honour to her Lord. "Martha was cum- bered about much serving." On the other hand, her sister was free from the necessity of worldly business, by being the younger. " She had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard His word." The same distinction, at once of duty and character, appears in the narrative of Lazarus' death and restora- tion, as contained in St. John's Gospel. " Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him; but Mary sat still in the house."1 After- wards Martha "went her way and called Mary hei sister secretly, saying, The Master is come, and calleth for thee." Again, in the beginning of the following chapter, " There they made Him a supper ; and Martha served Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair." 2 In these passages the same general difference between the sisters presents itself, though in a different respect ; — Martha still directs and acts, while Mary is the retired and modest servant of Christ, who, at liberty from worldly duties, loves to sit at His feet and hear His voice, and silently honours Him with her best, without obtruding herself upon His sacred presence. To return : — " Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to Him, and said, Lord, dost Thou not 1 John xi. 20. 2 John xii. 2, 3. The Good Part of Mary. 321 care that my sister hath left me to serve alone ? bid her therefore that she help me. And Jesus answered and said unto her," in the words of the text, " Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things; but one thing is needful : and Mary hath chosen that good part which shall not be taken away from her." I shall draw two observations from this incident, and our Saviour's comment on it. 1. First, it would appear from hence, on His own authority, that there are two ways of serving Him — by active business, and by quiet adoration. Not, of course, that He speaks of those who call themselves His ser- vants and are not ; who counterfeit the one or the other manner of life ; either those who are " choked with the cares of this world," or those who lie idle and useless as the hard way-side, and " bring no fruit to perfection." Nor, again, as if His words implied that any Christians were called to nothing but religious worship, or any to nothing but active employment. There are busy men and men of leisure, who have no part in Him ; there are others, who are not without fault, as altogether sacrificing leisure to business, or business to leisure. But putting aside the thought of the untrue and of the extravagant, still after all there remain two classes of Christians; — those who are like Martha, those like Mary ; and both of them glorify Him in their own line, whether of labour or of quiet, in either case proving themselves to be not their own, but bought with a price, set on obeying, and constant in obeying His will If they labour, it is for His sake ; and if they adore, it is still from love of Him. [in] X 322 The Good Part of Mary. And further, these two classes of His disciples do not choose for themselves their course of service, but are allotted it by Him. Martha might be the elder, Mary the younger. I do not say that it is never left to a Christian to choose his own path, whether he will minister with the Angels or adore with the Seraphim ; often it is : and well may he bless God if he has it in his power freely to choose that good portion which our Saviour especially praises. But, for the most part, each has his own place marked out for him, if he will take it, in the course of His providence ; at least there can be no doubt who are intended for worldly cares. The necessity of getting a livelihood, the calls of a family, the duties of station and office, these are God's tokens, tracing out Martha's path for the many. Let me, then, dismiss the consideration of the many, and rather mention who they are who may be considered as called to the more favoured portion of Mary ; and in doing so I shall more clearly show what that portion is. First, I instance the Old, as is natural, whose season of business is past, and who seem to be thereby reminded to serve God by prayer and contemplation. Such was Anna ; " she was of a great age, .... and was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the Temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day."1 Here we see both the de- scription of person called, and the occupation itself. Further, observe, it was the promises stored in Christ the Saviour, which were the object, towards which her service had respect. When He was brought into 1 Luke ii. 36, 37. The Good Part of Mary. 323 the Temple, she " gave thanks to the Lord, and spake of Him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem." Again, the same description of person, certainly the same office, is set before us in the parable of the importunate widow. " He spake a parable unto them to this end, that we ought always to pray and not to faint."1 The widow said, "Avenge me of mine adversary." "And shall not God avenge His own elect," our Lord asks, " which cry day and night unto Him, though He bear long with them?" Add to these St. Paul's description : " Now she that is a widow indeed, and desolate, trusteth in God, and continueth in supplications and prayers night and day."2 Next those, who minister at the Altar, are included in Mary's portion. "Blessed is the man whom thou choosest and causest to approach unto Thee," says the Psalmist, " that He may dwell in Thy courts." 3 Ac- cording to the Apostles' rule, the Deacons were to minister the worldly matters of the Church, the Evan- gelists were to go among the heathen, the Bishops were to govern; but the Elders were to remain, more or less, in the very bosom of the Lord's people, in the courts of His house, in the services of His worship, " executing the priest's office," as we read in the book of Acts,4 offering up the Sacrifice of praise and thanks- giving, teaching, catechising, but not busy or troubled with the world. I do not mean that these distinct office were never united in one person, but that they were, in themselves distinct, and that the tendency of the 1 Luke xviii. I * I Tim. v. 5. 8 Ps. Ixv. 4. 4 Acts xiii. 2. 324 The Good Part of Mary. Apostles' discipline was to separate off from the multitude of Christian Ministers certain who should serve God and the Church by giving thanks, and intercession. And next, I may mention Children as in some respects partakers of Mary's portion. Till they go out into the world, whether into its trades or its professions, their school-time should be, in some sort, a contemplation of their Lord and Saviour. Doubtless they cannot enter into sacred subjects as steadily as is possible afterwards; they must not be unnaturally compelled to serve, and they are to be exercised in active habits of obedience, and in a needful discipline for the future ; still, after all, we must not forget that He, who is the pattern of children as well as grown men, was, at twelve years old, found in His Father's House; and that afterwards, when He came thither before His passion, the children welcomed Him with the words, " Hosanna to the Son of David," and fulfilled a prophecy, and gained His praise, in so doing. Further, we are told, on St. Paul's authority (if that be necessary on so obvious a point), that Mary's portion is allotted, more or less, to the unmarried. I say more or less, for Martha herself, though unmarried, yet as mistress of a household, was in a measure an exception ; and because servants of God, as St. Paul, may remain unmarried, not to labour less, but to labour more directly for the Lord. St. Paul's words, some have observed, almost appear to refer to the language used in the text, when read in the original Greek ; which is the more likely, as St. Luke was an attendant on the Apostle, The Good Part of Mary. 325 and his Gospel seems to be cited elsewhere by him. As if he said, " The unmarried careth for the things of the Lord, so as to be holy both in body and in spirit. And this I speak for your own profit, that ye may sit at the Lord's feet without being cumbered." And further still, there are vast numbers of Chris- tians, in Mary's case, who are placed in various cir- cumstances, and of whom no description can well be given; rich men having leisure, or active men during seasons of leisure, as when they leave their ordinary work for recreation's sake. Certainly our Lord meant that some or other of His servants should be ever worshipping Him in every place, and that not in their hearts merely, but with the ceremonial of devotion. St. Paul says, "I will therefore that men," even that sex whose especial punishment it was that they should " eat bread in the sweat of their face," '•' that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands" in common and public worship, " without wrath and doubting." x And we find, accordingly, that even a Eoman Centurion, Cornelius, had found time, amid his military duties, to serve God continually, before he became a Christian, and was rewarded with the knowledge of the Gospel in consequence. " He prayed to God alway," we are told, and his "prayers and alms came up for a memoria] before God."2 And last of all, in Mary's portion, doubtless, are included the souls of those who have lived and died in the laith and fear of Christ. Scripture tells us that "they rest from their labours;"3 and in the same 1 1 Tim. ii. 8. = Acts x. 4. 3 Rev. xiv. 13. 326 The Good Part of Mary. sacred book, that their employment is prayer and praise. While God's servants below cry to Him day and night in every place ; these " serve Him day and night in His temple" above, and from their resting- place beneath the altar intercede, with loud voice, for those holy interests which they have left behind them. "How long, 0 Lord, holy and true, dost Thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?" "We give Thee thanks, because Thou hast taken to Thee Thy great power, and hast reigned." * This then is the company of those who stand in Mary's lot ; — the Aged and the Children — the Un- married and the Priests of God — and the spirits of the just made perfect, all with one accord, like Moses on the Mount, lifting up holy hands to God, while their brethren fight, or meditating on the promises, or hearing their Saviour's teaching, or adorning and beautifying His worship. 2. Such being the two-fold character of Christian obedience, I observe, secondly, that Mary's portion is the better of the two. Our Lord does not expressly say so, but He clearly implies it : " Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things ; but one thing is needful : and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her." If His words be taken literally, they might, indeed, even mean that Martha's heart was not right with Him, which, it is plain from other parts of the history, they do not mean. Therefore, what He intimated surely was, that Martha's 1 Eev. vi. 10 ; xi. 17. The Good Part of Mary. 327 portion was full of snares, as being one of worldly labour, but that Mary could not easily go wrong in hers ; that we may be busy in a wrong way, we cannot well adore Him except in a right one ; that to serve God by prayer and praise continually, when we can do so consistently with other duties, is the pursuit of the "one thing needful," and emphatically " that good part which shall not be taken away from us." It is impossible to read St. Paul's Epistles carefully without perceiving how faithfully they comment on this rule of our Lord's. Is it doubtful to any one, that they speak much and often of the duties of worship, medita- tion, thanksgiving, prayer, praise, and intercession ; and in such a way as to lead the Christian, so far as other duties will allow him, to make them the ordinary employment of his life ? not, indeed, to neglect his lawful calling, nor even to be content without some active efforts to do good, whether in the way of edu- cation of the young, attendance on the sick and needy, pastoral occupation, study, or other toil, yet to devote himself to a life at Jesus' feet, and a continual hearing of His word ? And is it not plainly a privilege, above other privileges, if we really love Him, to be called to this unearthly life ? Consider the following passages, in addition to those already quoted, and see if they can possibly be completely realized in the life of the com- mon run of Christians, though all, doubtless, must culti- vate inwardly, and in due measure bring into outward act, the spirit which they enjoin. See if they be not illustrations of that more blessed portion with which Mary was favoured. "Continue in prayer, watching 28 The Good Part of Mary. in it with thanksgiving."1 "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." 2 "Kejoice evermore, pray without ceasing, in every thing give thanks, . . . quench not the Spirit, despise not prophesyings." 3 "I will that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands." 4 " Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to each other in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; giving thanks always, for all things, unto God our Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."5 "Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, . . . taking the shield of faith, . . . and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching there- unto with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints." 6 Thus St. Paul speaks : in like manner St. Peter, "casting all your care" (such as Martha's) " upon Him, for He is concerned for you." 7 " Abstain from wine, that you may pray;"8 and St. James, "Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry ? let him sing psalms." 9 These are the injunctions of the Apostles; next, observe how they were fulfilled in the early Church. Before the Comforter came down, they "all (the 1 Col. iv. 2. 2 Col. iii. 16 3 1 Thess. v. 16-20. 4 1 Tim. ii. 8. 5 Eph. v. 18-20. 6 Eph. vi. 14-18. 7 I Pet. v. 7. 8 1 Pet. iv. 7. 9 James v. 13. The Good Part of Mary. 329 Apostles) continued" St. Paul's very word in the passages above cited, they persevered steadily, they endured, " with one accord, in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brethren." And so, after Pentecost; "They continuing" — the same word — steadfastly enduring, "daily with one accord, in the Temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God."1 That early privilege, we know, was soon taken from them as a body. Persecution arose, and they were " scattered " 2 to and fro, over the earth. Henceforth Martha's por- tion befell them. They were full of labours, whether pleasant or painful ; — pleasant, for they had to preach the Gospel over the earth — but painful as losing, not only earthly comforts, but, in some sort, spiritual quietness. They were separated from the Ordinances of Divine grace, as wanderers in a wilderness. Here and there, as they journeyed, they met a few of their brethren, "prophets and teachers, ministering to the Lord" at Antioch; or Philip's daughters, "virgins, which did prophesy " 3 at Csesarea. They met for wor- ship in secret, fearing their enemies; and in course of time, when the fire of persecution became fiercer, they fled to the deserts, and there set up houses for God's service. Thus Mary's portion was withheld from the Church for many years, while it laboured and suffered. St. Paul himself, that great Apostle, though he had his seasons of privilege, when he was caught up into the third heaven, and heard the hymns 1 Acts i. 14 ; ii. 46. 2 Acts viii. 1. 3 Acts xiii. 2 ; xxi. 9. 330 The Good Part of Mary. of Angels, yet he, too, was a man of contention and toil He fought for the Truth, and so laid the foundations of the Temple. He was "sent to preach, not to baptize." He was not allowed to build the House of God, for he was, in figure, like David, a "man of blood." He did but bring together into one the materials for the Sacred Building. The Order of the Ministry, the Succession of Apostles, the Services of Worship, the Eule of Discipline, all that is calm, beautiful, and soothing in our Holy Eeligion, was brought forth piecemeal, out of his writings, by his friends and fellow-disciples, in his own day, and in the time after him, as the state of the Church admitted. Accordingly, as peace was in any measure enjoyed, so the building was carried on, here and there, at this time and that, in the cavern, or the desert, or the mountain, where God's stray servants lived; till a time of peace came, and by the end of three hundred years the work was accomplished. From that time onwards to the present day, Mary's lot has been offered to vast multitudes of Christians, if they could receivt it. If they knew their blessedness, there are numbers now, in various ranks of society, who might enjoy the privilege of continual praise and prayer, and a seat at Jesus' feet. Doubtless they are, after all, but the few : for the great body of Christians have but the Lord's day, as a day of rest, and would be deserting their duty if they lived on other days as on it. But what is not granted to some, is granted to others, to serve God in His Temple, and be at rest. Who these favoured persons are, has already been said generally; The Good Part of Mary. 331 which is all that can be said in a matter in which every one must decide for himself, according to his best light and his own peculiar case. Yet surely, without attempting to pronounce upon individuals, so far at least we may say, that if there be an age when Mary's portion is altogether let alone and decried, that age is necessarily so far a stranger to the spirit of the GospeL Let me then, in conclusion, ask, for our edification, whether perchance this is not such an age ? I say " per- chance ; " because in matters of this kind, men show their motives and principles less openly than in other matters, as being of a nature more immediately lying between themselves and God. Yet, taking account of this, at least is not this an age in which few persons are in a condition, from the very state of society, to " give themselves continually to prayer" and other direct religious services ? Has not the desire of wealth so eaten into our hearts, that we think poverty the worst of ills, that we think the security of property the first of blessings, that we measure all things by mammon, that we not only labour for it ourselves, but so involve in our own evil earnestness all around us, that they cannot keep from the pursuit of it though they would ? Does not the frame- work of society move forward on such a plan as to enlist into the service of the world all its members, almost whether they will or no ? Would not a man be thought unaspiring and unproductive, who cared not to push forward in pursuit of that which Scripture calls " the root of all evil," the love of which it calls " covetousness which is idolatry," and the pos- 332 The Good Part of Mary. session of which it solemnly declares all but excludes a man from the kingdom of Heaven ? Alas ! can this be denied ? And therefore, of course, the entire system of tranquil devotion, holy meditation, freedom from worldly cares, which our Saviour praises in the case of Mary, is cast aside, misunderstood, or rather missed altogether, as much as the glorious sunshine by a blind man, slandered and ridiculed as something contemptible and vain. Surely, no one, who is candid, can doubt, that, were Mary now living, did she choose on principle that state of life in which Christ found her, were she content to remain at Jesus' feet hearing His word and disengaged from this troublesome world, she would be blamed and pitied. Careless men would gaze strangely, and wise men compassionately, on such an one, as wasting her life, and choosing a melancholy, cheerless portion. Long ago was this the case. Even in holy Martha, zealous as she was and true-hearted, even in her instance we are reminded of the impatience and disdain with which those who are far different from her, the children of this world, regard such as dedicate themselves to God. Long ago, even in her, we seem to witness, as in type, the rash, unchristian way in which this age disparages devotional services. Do we never hear it said, that the daily Service of the Church is unnecessary? Is it never hinted that it is scarcely worth while to keep it up unless we get numbers to attend it, as if one single soul, if but one, were not precious enough for Christ's love and His Church's rearing? Is it never objected, that a partially-filled Church is a discouraging sight, as if, after all, our Lord The Good Part of Mary. 333 Jesus had chosen the many and not the few to be His true disciples ? Is it never maintained, that a Christian minister is off his post unless he is for ever labouring for the heartless many, instead of ministering to the more religious few ? Alas ! there must be something wrong among us ; when our defenders recommend the Church on the mere plea of its activity, its popularity, and its visible usefulness, and would scarcely scruple to give us up, had we not the many on our side ! If our ground of boasting be, that rich men, and mighty men, and many men love us, it never can be a religious boast, and may be our condemnation. Christ made His feast for " the poor, the maimed, the lame, and the blind." It is the widow and the fatherless, the infirm, the helpless, the devoted, bound together in prayer, who are the strength of the Church. It is their prayers, be they many or few, the prayers of Mary and such as Mary, who are the safety, under Christ, of those who with Paul and Barnabas fight the Lord's battles. " It is but lost labour to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows," if prayers are discontinued. It is mere infatuation, if we think to resist the enemies who at this moment are at our doors, if our Churches remain shut, and we give up to prayer but a few minutes in the day. Blessed indeed are they whom Christ calls near to Him to be His own peculiar attendants and familiar friends ; more blessed if they obey and fulfil their calling! Blessed even if they are allowed to seize intervals of such service towards Him; but favoured and honoured beyond thought, if they can, without 334 The Good Part of Mary. breach of duty, put aside worldly things with full purpose of heart, renounce the pursuit of wealth, keep clear of family cares, and present themselves as a holy offering, without spot or blemish, to Him who died for them.1 These are they who " follow Him whithersoever He goeth," and to them He more especially addresses those lessons of faith and resignation which are recorded in His Gospel. " Take heed," he says, " and beware of covetousness, for man's life consisteth not in the over- abundance of the things which he possesseth. Take no care for your life, what ye shall eat, neither for the body, what ye shall put on. Consider the lilies how they grow, they toil not, they spin not. Seek not ye what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink, neither be ye unsettled; for all these things do the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. Tear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom. Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth. Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning ; and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their Lord, when He will return from the wedding. Blessed are those servants, whom the Lord, when He cometh, shall find watching. Verily 1 The life here advocated is one of which Prayer, Praise, Intercession, and other devotional services, are made the object and business, in the same sense in which a certain profession or trade is the object and business of life to the mass of men : one in which devotion is the end to which everything else gives way. This explanation will answer the question, how much of each day it supposes set aside for devotion. Callings of this world do not necessarily occupy the whole, or half, or a third of our time, but they ride and dispose of the whole of it. The Good Part of Mary. 335 I say unto you, that He will gird Himself" — He who on earth has let them sit at His feet hearing His word, or let them anoint His feet with ointment, kissing them, He in turn, as He did before His passion, by an inexpressible condescension, "will gird Himself; and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. And if He shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. Be ye therefore ready also; for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not."1 1 Lukexii. 15-40. SERMON XXIII. RELIGIOUS WORSHIP A REMEDY FOR EXCITEMENTS. JAMES v. 13. " Is any among you afflicted ? let him pray. Is any merry ? let him sing psalms." QIT. JAMES seems to imply in these words that ^ there is that in religious worship which supplies all our spiritual need, which suits every mood of mind and every variety of circumstances, over and above the heavenly and supernatural assistance which we are allowed to expect from it. Prayer and praise seem in his view to be an universal remedy, a panacea, as it is called, which ought to be used at once, whatever it be that affects us. And, as is implied in ascribing to them this universal virtue, they produce very opposite effects, according to our need ; allaying or carrying off the fever of the mind, as the case may be. The Apostle is not speaking of sin in the text ; he speaks of the emotions of the mind, whether joyful or sorrowful, of good and bad spirits ; and for these and all other such disturb- ances, prayer and praise are a medicine. Sin indeed has its appropriate remedies too, and more serious ones ; penitence, self-abasement, self-revenge, mortification, Religious Worship, &c. 337 and the like. But the text supposes the case of a Christian, not of a mere penitent — not of scandalous wickedness, but of emotion, agitation of mind, regret, longing, despondency, mirthfulness, transport, or rap- ture ; and in case of such ailments it says, prayer and praise is the remedy. Indisposition of body shows itself in a pain some- where or other ; — a distress, which draws our thoughts to it, centres them upon it, impedes our ordinary way of going on, and throws the mind off its balance. Such too is indisposition of the soul, of whatever sort, be it passion or affection, hope or fear, joy or grief. It takes us off from the clear contemplation of the next world, ruffles us, and makes us restless. In a word, it is what we call an excitement of mind. Excitements are the indisposition of the mind ; and of these excitements in different ways the services of divine worship are the proper antidotes. How they are so, shall now be considered. 1. Excitements are of two kinds, secular and reli- gious : First, let us consider secular excitements. Such is the pursuit of gain, or of power, or of distinction. Amusements are excitements ; the applause of a crowd, emulations, hopes, risks, quarrels, contests, disappoint- ments, successes. In such cases the object pursued naturally absorbs the mind, and excludes all thoughts but those relating to itself. Thus a man is sold over into bondage to this world. He has one idea, and one only before him, which becomes his idol Day by day he is engrossed by this one thing, to which his heart pays worship. It may attract him through the imagi- [m] y 338 Religious Worship nation, or through the reason; it may appeal to his heart, or to his self-interest, or to his pride; still, whether we be young or old, rich or poor, each age, each fortune is liable to its own peculiar excitement, which has power to fascinate the eye of our minds, to enervate and destroy us. Not all at once (God forbid !), but by a gradual process, till every thought of religion is lost before the contemplation of this nearer good. The most ordinary of these excitements, at least in this country, is the pursuit of gain. A man may live from week to week in the fever of a decent covetous- ness, to which he gives some more specious name (for instance, desire of doing his duty by his family), till the heart of religion is eaten out of him. He may live and die in his farm or in his merchandise. Or he may be labouring for some distinction, which depends on his acquitting himself well on certain trying occasions, and requires a laborious preparation beforehand. Or he may be idly carried away by some light object of sense, which fills his mind with empty dreams and with pains which profit not. Or he may be engaged in the general business of life ; be full of schemes and projects, of political manoeuvres and efforts, of hate, or jealousy, or resentment, or triumph. He may be busy in managing, persuading, outwitting, resisting other men. Again, he may be in one or other of these states, not for a life, but for a season ; and this is the more general case. Anyhow, while he is so circumstanced, whether for a longer or a shorter season, -this will hold good — viz., the thought of religion is A Remedy for Excitements. 339 excluded by the force of the excitement which is on him. Now, then, observe what is the remedy. "Is any afflicted ? let him pray. Is any merry ? let him sing psalms." Here we see one very momentous use of prayer and praise to all of us ; it breaks the current of worldly thoughts. And this is the singular benefit of stated worship, that it statedly interferes with the urgency of worldly excitements. Our daily prayer, morning and evening, suspends our occupations of time and sense. And especially the daily prayers of the Church do this. I say especially, because a man, amid the business of life, is often tempted to defraud himself of his private devotions by the pressure of engagements. He has not many minutes to give to them ; and if by accident they are broken in upon, the season is gone and lost. But the public Service is of a certain length, and cannot be interrupted ; and it is long enough to calm and steady the mind. Scripture must be read, psalms must be sung, prayers must be offered; every thing comes in course. I say, it is impossible (under God's blessing) for any one to attend the Daily Service of the Church " with reverence and godly fear," and a wish and effort to give his thoughts to it, and not find himself thereby sobered and brought to recollection. What kinder office is there, when a man is agitated, than for a friend to put his hand upon him by way of warning, to startle and recall him ? It often has the effect of saving us from angry words, or extravagant talking, or inconsiderate jesting, or rash resolves. And such is the blessed effect of the sacred Services on 34° Religious Worship Christians busied about many things ; reminding them of the one thing needful, and keeping them from being drawn into the great whirlpool of time and sense. This, let it be observed, is one important benefit arising from the institution of the Lord's day. Over and above the privilege of being allowed one day in seven for religious festivity, the Christian may accept it as a merciful break in upon his usual employments, lest they should engross him. Most men, indeed, perceive this ; they will feel wearied with the dust of this world when Saturday comes, and understand it to be a mercy that they are not obliged to go on toiling without cessation. But still, there are many who, if it were not an express ordinance of religion, would feel tempted, or think it their duty, to continue their secular labours, even though the custom of society allowed them to rest. Many, as it is, are so tempted ; that is, at times, when they have some pressing object in view, and think they cannot afford to lose a day : and many always — such, for instance, as are in certain professions, which are not regulated (as trade is, more or less) by times and places. And great numbers, it is to be feared, yield to the temptation ; and the evil effect of it shows itself in various miserable ways, even in the overthrow of their health and reason. In all these cases, then, the weekly Services of prayer and praise come to us as a gracious relief, a pause from the world, a glimpse of the third heaven, lest the world should rob us of our hope, and enslave us to that hard master who is plotting our eternal destruction. You see, then, how secular excitements are remedied A Remedy for Excitements. 341 by religious worship ; viz., by breaking them up, and disabling them. 2. Next, let us consider how religious excitements are set right by the same Divine medicine. If we had always continued in the way of light and truth, obeying God from childhood, doubtless we should know little of those swellings and tumults of the soul which are so common among us. Men who have grown up in the faith and fear of God, have a calm and equable piety ; so much so, that they are often charged on that very account with being dull, cold, formal, insensible, dead to the next world. Now, it stands to reason, that a man who has always lived in the contemplation and improvement of his Gospel privileges, will not feel that agitating surprise and vehemence of joy, which he would feel, and ought to feel, if he had never known anything of them before. The jailor, who for the first time heard the news of salvation through Christ, gave evident signs of transport. This certainly is natural and right ; still it is a state of excitement, and, if I might say it, all states of excitement have dangerous tendencies. Hence one never can be sure of a new convert ; for, in that ele- vated state of mind in which he is at first, the affections have much more sway than the reason or conscience; and unless he takes care, they may hurry him away, just as a wind might do, in a wrong direction. He is balanced on a single point, on the summit of an excited mind, and he may easily fall However, though this danger would not exist, or, at least, not commonly or seriously, did men turn to God from early youth, yet, alas ! in matter of fact they do not so turn j in matter 34 2 Religious Worship of fact they are open to the influence of excitement, when they begin to seek God; and the question is, what is then to be done with them? Now, this advice is often given: — "Indulge the excitement; when you flag, seek for another; live upon the thought of God; go about doing good; let your light shine before men ; tell them what God has done for your soul ; " — by all which is meant, when we go into particulars, that they ought to fancy that they have something above all other men ; ought to neglect their worldly calling, or at best only bear it as a cross ; to join themselves to some particular set of religionists ; to take part in this or that religious society; go to hear strange preachers, and obtrude their new feelings and new opinions upon others, at times proper and improper. I am speaking now of the temper, not of those who profess adherence to the Church, but of such as detach themselves, more or less, from its discipline; and the reason I allude to them is this. It is often said, that schism and dissent are but accidents of a religious temper ; that they who fall into them, if pious, are the same in heart as Churchmen, only are divided by some outward difference of forms and circumstances. Not so ; the mind of dissent, viewed in itself, is far other than the mind of Christ and His Holy Church Catholic ; in whatever proportion it may or may not be realized in individuals. It is full of self-importance, irreve- rence, censoriousnesSj display, and tumult. It is right, therefore, ever to insist that it is different, lest men should be seduced into it, by being assured that it is not different. A Remedy for Excitements. 343 That it is different from the mind and spirit of the early Christians at least, is quite plain from history. If there was a time, when those particular irregulari- ties, which now are so common, were likely to abound, it was in the primitive Church. Men, who had lived all their lives in the pollutions of sin unspeakable, who had been involved in the darkness of heathenism, were suddenly brought to the light of Christian truth. Their sins were all freely forgiven them, clean washed away in the waters of Baptism. A new world of ideas was opened upon them; and the most astonishing objects presented to their faith. What a state of transport must have been theirs ! We know it was so, by the account of such men in the book of Acts. The jailor "rejoiced, believing in God, with all his house." And what an excited and critical state was theirs ! Critical and dangerous in proportion to its real blessedness; for, in proportion to the privileges we enjoy, ever will be our risk of misusing them. In spite, then, of their blessedness, they were in a state of risk, and that from the excitement of their minds. How then did they escape that enthusiasm which now prevails, that irreverence, immodesty, and rudeness? I say, if in any age that feverish spirit was likely to have prevailed, which now prevails, the early times of the Gospel was such; how is it we do not read generally of what happened in a measure and for a season in the Corinthian Church, of Christians dis- obeying their Eulers, saying that their own hearts were the best judges in religious matters, censuring those about them, taking teachers for themselves, and 344 Religious Worship so breaking up the Church of Christ into ten thousand parts? If at any time the outward frame-work of Christianity was in jeopardy, surely it was then. How was it the ungovernable elements within it did not burst forth and shiver to pieces the vessel which contained them ? How was it, that for fifteen hundred years the Church was preserved from those peculiar affections of mind and irregularities of feeling and conduct, which now torment it like an ague? Now certainly, looking at external and second causes, the miracles had much to do in securing this blessed sobriety in the early Christians. These kept them from wilfulness and extravagance, and tempered them to the spirit of godly fear. Thus St. Paul, when converted, was not let go by himself, so to speak. His merciful Lord kept His hand upon him, and directed his every step, lest he should start aside and go astray. Thus He would not tell him all at once what to do, though St. Paul wished it; but bade him "arise, and go into the city," and there it was to be told him what he was to do. He was led ~by the hand (a fit emblem of his spiritual condition), and brought to Damascus. Then he was three days without sight, and without meat and drink. During this time he was still kept in suspense and ignorance what was to happen, and was employed in praying. Such desolateness — his darkness, fasting, and suspense — had a sobering influence. Then Ananias was sent to him to baptize him. Forthwith he began to preach Christ at Damascus, but was soon checked, thwarted, sent into Arabia out of the way, for three years. Then he A Remedy for Excitements. 345 returned to Damascus, and again, preaching Christ, was in no long time obliged to flee for his life. He came to Jerusalem, and began again to preach. Here first he had a difficulty in getting acknowledged by the Apostles, who were for a time afraid of him ; then the Jews laid a plot to kill him. As he was praying in the Temple, Christ appeared to him, and bade him depart from Jerusalem. The brethren brought him down to Csesarea; thence he went to Tarsus. Now, who does not see in this history how the Apostle was repressed and brought under by the plain commands and providences of God, hurrying him to and fro, with- out saying why? After all this, many years passed before he was employed to preach to the heathen, and then only after a solemn ordination. Thus, God's miraculous providence, awing and con- trolling the heart, would seem to be one especial means by which the early Christians were kept from enthu- siasm; and the persecutions of the Church became another. But the more ordinary means was one which we may enjoy at this day, if we choose : the course of religious Services, the round of prayer and praise, which, indeed, was also part of St. Paul's discipline, as we have seen, and which has a most gracious effect upon the restless and excited mind, giving it an outlet, yet withal calming, soothing, directing, purifying it. To go into details. It often happens that in a family who have been brought up together, one suddenly takes what is called a religious turn. Such a person wishes to be more religious than the rest, wishes to do some- thing more than ordinary, but does not know exactly 34 6 Religious Worship what to do. You will find, generally, that he joins himself to some dissenting party, mainly for this reason, to evidence to himself greater strictness. His mind is under excitement ; he seems to say with St. Paul, " Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do ?" This is the cause, again and again, of persons falling from the Church. And hence, a notion has got abroad that dissenting bodies have more of true religion within them than the Church ; I say, for this reason, because earnest men, awaking to a sense of religion, wish to do something more than usual, and join sects and heresies as a relief to their minds, by way of ridding themselves of strong feelings, which, pent up within them, distress them. And I cannot deny, that in this way those bodies do gain, and the Church doss lose, earnestly religious people, or rather those who would have been such in time ; for it is, I fear, too true that, while the sects in question are in this way recruited and improved from the Church, the persons themselves, who join them, are injured. They lose the greater part of that religious light and warmth which. hung about them, even though they have been hitherto careless, and but partially availed themselves of it. It is as if a living hand were to touch cold iron ; the iron is somewhat warmed, but the hand is chilled. And thus the blossom of truth, the promise of real religion, is lost to the Church. Men begin well, but being seduced by their own wayward- ness fall away. Here, then, if we knew how to employ them, the Services of the Church come in to soothe and guide the agitated mind. " Is any afflicted ? let him pray : is A Remedy for Excitements. 347 any merry ? let him sing psalms." Is any in a per- turbed state of mind ? he need not go off to strange preachers and meetings, in order to relieve himself of his uneasiness. We can give him a stricter rule of life, and a safer one. Did not our Lord make a distinction between the life of Martha and that of Mary, and without disclaiming Martha, who was troubled for His sake with the toils of life, yet praise Mary the rather, who sat at His feet ? Does not St. Paul make a dis- tinction between the duties necessary for a Christian, and those which are comely and of good report ? Let restless persons attend upon the worship of the Church, which will attune their minds in harmony with Christ's law, while it unburdens them. Did not St. Paul " pray" during his three days of blindness ? Afterwards he was praying in the Temple, when Christ appeared to him. Let this be well considered. We may build Houses of God without number, up and down the land, as indeed our duty is ; we may multiply resident ministers ; we may (with a less commendable zeal) do our utmost to please the many or the wealthy ; but all this will not deprive Dissenting bodies of their virtue and charm, such as it is. Their strength is their semblance of a strictness beyond members of the Church. Till we act up to our professed principles more exactly; till we have in deed and actual practice more frequent Services of praise and prayer, more truly Catholic plans for honouring God and benefiting man ; till we exhibit the nobler and more beautiful forms of Christian devoted- ness for the admiration and guidance of the better sort, we have, in a manner, done nothing. Surely we want 348 Religious Worship something more than the material walls, we want the "spirit and truth" of the Heavenly Jerusalem, the wor- shippers "with one accord continuing in the Temple, with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God," persevering and prevailing in prayer, and thus, without seeking it, " having favour with all the people." Is any one then desirous of gaining comfort to his soul, of bringing Christ's presence home to his very heart, and of doing the highest and most glorious things for the whole world ? I have told him how to proceed. Let him praise God ; let holy David's Psalter be as familiar words in his mouth, his daily service, ever repeated, yet ever new and ever sacred. Let him pray; especially let him intercede. Doubt not the power of faith and prayer to effect all things with God. However you try, you cannot do works to compare with those which faith and prayer accomplish in the name of Christ. Did you give your body to be burned, and all your goods to feed the poor, you could not do so much as by continual intercession. Few are rich, few can suffer for Christ; all may pray. Were you an Apostle of the Church, or a Prophet, you could not do more than you can do by the power of prayer. Go not then astray to find out new modes of serving God and benefiting man. I show you " a more excellent way." Come to our Services ; come to our Litanies ; throw yourself out of your own selfish heart ; pour yourself out upon the thought of sin and sinners, upon the contemplation of God's Throne, of Jesus the Mediator between God and man, and of that glorious Church to which the dispensation of His merits is committed. A Remedy for Excitements. 349 Aspire to be what Christ would make you, His friend ; having power with Him and prevailing. Other men will not pray for themselves. You may pray for them and for the general Church ; and while you pray, you will find enough in the defects of your praying to remind you of your own nothingness, and to keep you from pride while you aim at perfection. But I must draw to an end. Thus, in both ways, whether our excitements arise from objects of this world or the next, praise and prayer will be, through God's mercy, our remedy; keeping the mind from, running to waste ; calming, soothing, sobering, steady- ing it; attuning it to the will of God and the mind of the Spirit, teaching it to love all men, to be cheerful and thankful, and to be resigned in all the dispensa- tions of Providence towards us. Oh that we knew our own true bliss, now that Christ is come, instead of being, as we still are, for the most part, like the heathen, as sheep without a shepherd ! May the good Lord fulfil His purpose towards us in His own time ! Amen, SEEMON XXIV. INTEECESSIOK EPHES. vi. 18. "Praying always with att prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with aU perseverance and supplication for att saints" T71YEKY one knows, who has any knowledge of the -*-^ Gospel, that Prayer is one of its especial ordi- nances ; but not every one, perhaps, has noticed what kind of prayer its inspired teachers most carefully enjoin. Prayer for self is the most obvious of duties, as soon as leave is given us to pray at all, which Christ distinctly and mercifully accorded, when He came. This is plain from the nature of the case; but He Himself has given us also an express command and promise about ourselves, to " ask and it shall be given to us." Yet it is observable, that though prayer for self is the first and plainest of Christian duties, the Apostles especially insist on another kind of prayer ; prayer for others, for ourselves with others, for the Church, and for the world, that it may be brought into the Church. Intercession is the characteristic of Christian worship, the privilege of the heavenly adoption, the exercise of Intercession. 351 the perfect and spiritual mind. This is the subject to which I shall now direct your attention. 1. First, let us turn to the express injunctions of Scripture. For instance, the text itself: "Praying in every season with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and abstaining from sleep for the purpose, with all perseverance and supplication for all saints." Ob- serve the earnestness of the intercession here inculcated ; " in every season," " with all supplication," and " to the loss of sleep." Again, in the Epistle to the Colossians ; " Persevere in prayer, watching in it with thanksgiving, withal praying for us also." Again, "Brethren, pray for us." And again in detail ; " I exhort that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; for kings, and all that are in authority. I will therefore that men pray in every place." On the other hand, go through the Epistles, and reckon up how many exhortations occur therein to pray merely for self. You will find there are few, or rather none at all. Even those which seem at first sight to be such, will be found really to have in view the good of the Church. Thus, to take the words following the text, St. Paul, in asking his brethren's prayers, seems to pray for himself : but he goes on to explain why — " that he might make known the Gospel:" or elsewhere — that " the word of the Lord might have free course and be glorified;" or, as where he says — "Let him that speaketh in an unknown tongue, pray that he may interpret,"1 for this, too, was a petition in order to the edification of the Church. * Col. iv. 2 ; 1 Thess. v. 25 ; 1 Tim. ii. 1, 2, 8 ; 2 Thess. iii. 1 ; 1 Cor. xiv. 3. 352 Intercession. Next, consider St. Paul's own example, which is quite in accordance with his exhortations : " I cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Glory, may give unto you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him." " I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all, making request with joy." " We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you." " We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers."1 The instances of prayer, recorded in the book of Acts, are of the same kind, being almost entirely of an inter- cessory nature, as offered at ordinations, confirmations, cures, missions, and the like. For instance ; " As they interceded before the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate Me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them ; and when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away." Again, "And Peter put them all forth, and kneeled down, and prayed : and turning him to the body, said, Tabitha, arise."2 2. Such is the lesson taught us by the words and deeds of the Apostles and their brethren. Nor could it be otherwise, if Christianity be a social religion, as it is pre-eminently. If Christians are to live together, they will pray together ; and united prayer is necessarily of an intercessory character, as being offered for each other - Eph. i. 16, 17 ; Phil. i. 3, 4 ; Col. i. 3 ; 1 Thess. i. 2. 2 Acts xiii. 2, 3 ; ix. 40. Intercession. 353 and for the whole, and for self as one of the whole. In proportion, then, as unity is an especial Gospel-duty, so does Gospel-prayer partake of a social character ; and Intercession becomes a token of the existence of a Church Catholic. Accordingly, the foregoing instances of intercessory prayer are supplied by Christians. On the other hand, contrast with these the recorded instances of prayer in men who were not Christians, and you will find they are not intercessory. For instance : St. Peter's prayer on the house-top was, we know, answered by the reve- lation of the call of the Gentiles : viewing it then by the light of the texts already quoted, we may conclude, that, as was the anwer, such was the prayer — that it had reference to others. On the other hand, Cornelius, not yet a Christian, was also rewarded with an answer to his prayer. " Thy prayer is heard ; call for Simon, whose surname is Peter ; he shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do." Can we doubt, from these words of the Angel, that his prayers had been offered for himseli especially? Again, on St. Paul's conversion, we are told, " Behold, he prayeth." It is plain he was praying for himself ; and observe, it was before he was a Chris- tian. Thus, if we are to judge of the relative prominence of religious duties by the recorded instances of the per- formance of them, we should say that Intercession is the kind of prayer distinguishing a Christian from such as are not Christians. 3. But the instance of St. Paul opens upon us a second reason for this distinction. Intercession is the especial observance of the Christian, because he alone [m] s 354 Intercession. is in a condition to offer it. It is the function of the justified and obedient, of the sons of God, "who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit;" not of the carnal and unregenerate. This is plain even to natural reason. The blind man, who was cured, said of Christ, " We know that God heareth not sinners ; but, if any man le a worshipper of God and doeth His will, him He heareth."1 Saul the persecutor obviously could not intercede like St. Paul the Apostle. He had yet to be baptized and forgiven. It would be a presumption and an extravagance in a penitent, before his regeneration, to do aught but confess his sins and deprecate wrath. He has not yet proceeded, he has had no leave to proceed, out of himself; and has enough to do within. His conscience weighs heavy on him, nor has he " the wings of a dove to flee away and be at rest." We need not, I say, go to Scripture for information on so plain a point. Our first prayers ever must be for ourselves. Our own salvation is our personal concern; till we labour to secure it, till we try to live religiously, and pray to be enabled to do so, nay, and have made pro- gress, it is but hypocrisy, or at best it is overbold, to busy ourselves with others. I do not mean that prayer for self always comes first in order of time, and Intercession second. Blessed be God, we were all made His children before we had actually sinned j we began life in purity and innocence. Intercession is never more appropriate than when sin had been utterly abolished, and the heart was most affectionate and least selfish. Nor would I deny, that a care for 1 John ix. 31. Intercession. 355 the souls of other men may be the first symptom of a man's beginning to think about his own; or that persons, who are conscious to themselves of much, guilt, often pray for those whom they revere and love, when under the influence of fear, or in agony, or other strong emotion, and, perhaps, at other times. Still it is true, that there is something incongruous and inconsistent in a man's presuming to intercede, who is an habitual and deliberate sinner. Also it is true, that most men do, more or less, fall away from God, sully their baptismal robe, need the grace of repentance, and have to be awakened to the necessity of prayer for self, as the first step in observing prayer of any kind. "God heareth not sinners;" nature tells us this; but none but God Himself could tell us that He will hear and answer those who are not sinners ; for " when we have done all, we are unprofitable servants, and can claim no reward for our services." But He has graciously promised us this mercy, in Scripture, as the following texts will show. For instance, St. James says, "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." St. John, "Whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him, because we "keep His commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in His sight." 1 Next let us weigh care- fully our Lord's solemn announcements uttered shortly before His crucifixion, and, though addressed primarily to His Apostles, yet, surely, in their degree belonging to all who " believe on Him through their word." We 1 James v. 16 ; 1 John iii. 22. 356 Intercession. shall find that consistent obedience, mature, habitual, lifelong holiness, is therein made the condition of His intimate favour, and of power in Intercession. " If ye abide in Me," He says, " and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit ; so shall ye be My disciples. As the Father hath loved Me, so have I loved you ; abide ye in My love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in My love. Ye are My friends, if ye do whatsoever I com- mand you. Henceforth I call you not servants ; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard of My Father, I have made known unto you."1 From this solemn grant of the peculiarly Gospel privilege of being the " friends " of Christ, it is certain, that as the prayer of repentance gains for us sinners Baptism and justifi- cation, so our higher gift of having power with Him and prevailing, depends on our "adding to our faith virtue." Let us turn to the examples given us of holy men under former dispensations, whose obedience and privi- leges were anticipations of the evangelical. St. James, after the passage already cited from his epistle, speaks of Elijah thus: "Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, yet he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months." Eighteous Job was appointed by Almighty God to be the effectual intercessor for his erring friends. Moses, who was 1 John xv. 7-15. Intercession. 357 " faithful in all the house " of God, affords us another eminent instance of intercessory power ; as in the Mount, and on other occasions, when he pleaded for his rebellious people, or in the battle with Amalek, when Israel continued conquering as long as his hands remained lifted up in prayer. Here we have a striking emblem of that continued, earnest, unwearied prayer of men " lifting up Iwly hands," which, under the Gospel, prevails with Almighty God. Again, in the book of Jeremiah, Moses and Samuel are spoken of as mediators so powerful, that only the sins of the Jews were too great for the success of their prayers. In like manner it is implied, in the book of Ezekiel, that three such as Noah, Daniel, and Job, would suffice, in some cases, to save guilty nations from judgment. Sodom might have been rescued by ten. Abraham, though he could not save the abandoned city just mentioned, yet was able to save Lot from the overthrow; as at another time he interceded successfully for Abimelech. The very inti- mation given him of God's purpose towards Sodom was of course an especial honour, and marked him as the friend of God. " Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do, seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation ; and all the nations of the world shall be blessed in him ? " The reason follows, "for I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord to do justice and judgment, that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which He hath spoken of him."1 1 Gen. xviii. 17-19. 3 5 8 Intercession. 4. The history of God's dealings with Abraham will afford us an additional lesson, which must be ever borne in mind in speaking of the privilege of the saints on earth as intercessors between God and man. I can fancy a person, from apprehension lest the belief in it should interfere with the true reception of the doctrine of the Cross, perplexed at finding it in the foregoing texts so distinctly connected with obedience : I say perplexed, for I will not contemplate the case of those, though there are such, who, when the text of Scripture seems to them to be at variance with itself, and one portion to diverge from another, will not allow them- selves to be perplexed, will not suspend their minds and humbly wait for light, will not believe that the Divine Scheme is larger and deeper than their own capacities, but boldly wrest into a factitious agreement what is already harmonious in God's infinite counsels, though not to them. I speak to perplexed persons ; and would have them observe that Almighty God has, in this very instance of Abraham our spiritual father, been mindful of that other aspect under which the most highly exalted among the children of flesh must ever stand in His presence. It is elsewhere said of him, "Abraham believed in the Lord, and He counted it to Him for righteousness,"1 as St. Paul points out, when he is discoursing upon the free grace of God in our re- demption. Even Abraham was justified by faith, though he was perfected by works ; and this being told us in the book of Genesis, seems as if an intimation to the perplexed inquirer that his difficulty can be but an 1 Gen. xv. 6. Intercession. 359 apparent one — that, while God reveals the one doctrine, He is not the less careful of the other also, nor rewards His servants (though He rewards them) for works done by their own strength. On the other hand, it is a caution to us, who rightly insist on the prerogatives imparted by his grace, ever to remember that it is grace only that ennobles and exalts us in His sight. Abraham is our spiritual father ; and as he is, so are his children. In us, as in him, faith must be the foundation of all that is acceptable with God. " By faith we stand," by faith we are justified, by faith we obey, by faith our works are sanctified. Faith applies to us again and again the grace of our Baptism; faith opens upon us the virtue of all other ordinances of the Gospel — of the Holy Communion, which is the highest. By faith we prevail " in the hour of death and in the day of judg- ment." And the distinctness and force with which this is told us in the Epistles, and its obviousness, even to our natural reason, may be the cause why less stress is laid in them on the duty of prayer for self. The very instinct of faith will lead a man to do this without set command, and the Sacraments secure its observance. — So much then, by way of caution, on the influence of faith upon our salvation, furthering it, yet not interfer- ing with the distinct office of works in giving virtue to our intercession. And here let me observe on a peculiarity of Scrip- ture, its speaking as if separate rewards attended on separate graces, according to our Lord's words, "To him that hath more shall be given ;" so that what has been said in contrasting faith and works, is but one 360 Intercession. instance under a general rule. Thus, in the Sermon on the Mount, the beatitudes are pronounced on separate virtues respectively. " Blessed are the , meek, for they shall inherit the earth ;" " Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God ;" and the rest in like manner. I am not attempting to determine what these particular graces are, what the rewards, what the aptitude of the one to the other, what the real connection between the reward and the grace, or how far one grace can be sepa- rated from another in fact. We know that all depend on one root, faith, and are but differently developed in different persons. Again, we see in Scripture that the same reward is not invariably assigned to the same grace, as if, from the intimate union between all graces, their rewards might (as it were) be lent and inter- changed one with another ; yet enough is said there to direct our minds to the existence of the principle itself, though we be unable to fathom its meaning and conse- quences. It is somewhat upon this principle that our Articles ascribe justification to faith only, as a sym- bol of the free grace of our redemption ; just as in the parable of the Pharisee and Publican, our Lord would seem to impute it to self-abasement, and in His words to the " woman which was a sinner," to love as well as to faith, while St. James connects it with works. In other instances the reward follows in the course of nature. Thus the gift of wisdom is the ordinary result of trial borne religiously; courage, of endurance. In this way St. Paul draws out a series of spiritual gifts one from another, experience from patience, hope from experience, boldness and confidence Intercession. 361 from hope. I will add but two instances from the Old Testament. The commandment says, " Honour thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long;" a promise which was signally fulfilled in the case even of the Bechabites, who were not of Israel. Again, from Daniel's history we learn that illumination, or other miraculous power, is the reward of fasting and prayer. "In those days I, Daniel, was mourning three full weeks. I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled And he said unto me, Fear not, Daniel ; for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days." With this passage compare St. Peter's vision about the Gentiles while he prayed and fasted ; and, again, our Lord's words about casting out the " dumb and deaf spirit/' " This kind can come forth by nothing but by prayer and fasting."1 It is then by a similar appointment that Intercession is the preroga- tive and gift of the obedient and holy. 5. Why should we be unwilling to admit what it is so great a consolation to know ? Why should we refuse to credit the transforming power and efficacy of our Lord's Sacrifice ? Surely He did not die for any common end, but in order to exalt man, who was of the dust of the field, into "heavenly places." He did not die to leave him as he was, sinful, ignorant, and miserable. He 1 Ex. xx. 12 ; Jer. xxxv. 18, 19; Dan. x. 2-14; Mark ix. 29. Intercession. did not die to see His purchased possession, as feeble in good works, as corrupt, as poor-spirited, and as desponding as before He came. Eather, He died to renew him after His own image, to make him a being He might delight and rejoice in, to make him "partaker of the divine nature," to fill him within and without with a flood of grace and glory, to pour out upon him gift upon gift, and virtue upon virtue, and power upon power, each acting upon each, and working together one and all, till he becomes an Angel upon earth, instead of a rebel and an outcast. He died to bestow upon him that privilege which implies or involves all others, and brings him into nearest resemblance to Himself, the privilege of Intercession. This, I say, is the Christian's especial prerogative ; and if he does not exercise it, certainly he has not risen to the conception of his real place among created beings. Say not he is a son of Adam, and has to undergo a future judgment ; I know it ; but he is something besides. How far he is advanced into that higher state of being, how far he still languishes in his first condition, is, in the case of individuals, a secret with God. Still every Christian is in a certain sense both in the one and in the other : viewed in himself he ever prays for pardon, and con- fesses sin; but viewed in Christ, he "has access into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoices in hope of the glory of God."1 Viewed in his place in "the Church of the First-born enrolled in heaven," with his original debt cancelled in Baptism, and all subsequent penalties put aside by Absolution, standing in God's 1 Kom. v. 2. Intercession. 363 presence upright and irreprovable, accepted in the Beloved, clad in the garments of righteousness, anointed with oil, and with a crown upon his head, in royal and priestly garb, as an heir of eternity, full of grace and good works, as walking in all the commandments of the Lord blameless, such an one, I repeat it, is plainly in his fitting place when he intercedes. He is made after the pattern and in the fulness of Christ — he is what Christ is. Christ intercedes above, and he intercedes below. Why should he linger in the doorway, praying for pardon, who has been allowed to share in the grace of the Lord's passion, to die with Him and rise again ? He is already in a capacity for higher things. His prayer thenceforth takes a higher range, and contem- plates not himself merely, but others also. He is taken into the confidence and counsels of his Lord and Saviour. He reads in Scripture what the many cannot see there, the course of His providence, and the rules of His government in this world. He views the events of history with a divinely enlightened eye. He sees that a great contest is going on among us between good and evil He recognizes in statesmen, and warriors, and kings, and people, in revolutions and changes, in trouble and prosperity, not merely casual matters, but instruments and tokens of heaven and of hell. Thus he is in some sense a prophet; not a servant, who obeys without knowing his Lord's plans and purposes, but even a confidential " familiar friend " of the Only -begotten Son of God, calm, collected, pre- pared, resolved, serene, amid this restless and unhappy world. 0 mystery of blessedness, too great to think of 364 Intercession. steadily, lest we grow dizzy ! Well is it for those who are so gifted, that they do not for certain know their privilege ; well is it for them that they can but timidly guess at it, or rather, I should say, are used, as well as bound, to contemplate it as external to themselves, lodged in the Church of which they are but members, and the gift of all saints in every time and place, without curiously inquiring whether it is theirs pecu- liarly above others, or doing more than availing them- selves of it as any how a trust committed to them (with whatever success) to use. Well is it for them ; for what mortal heart could bear to know that it is brought so near to God Incarnate, as to be one of those who are perfecting holiness, and stand on the very steps of the throne of Christ ? To conclude. If any one asks, " How am I to know whether I am advanced enough in holiness to inter- cede ? " he has plainly mistaken the doctrine under consideration. The privilege of Intercession is a trust committed to all Christians who have a clear conscience and are in full communion with the Church. We leave secret things to God — what each man's real advance- ment is in holy things, and what his real power in the unseen world. Two things alone concern us, to exercise our gift and make ourselves more and more worthy of it. The slothful and unprofitable servant hid his Lord's talent in a napkin. This sin be far from us as regards one of the greatest of our gifts! By words and works we can but teach or influence a few ; by our prayers we may benefit the whole world, and every individual of it, high and low, friend, stranger, Intercession. 365 and enemy. Is it not fearful then to look back on our past lives even in this one respect ? How can we tell but that our king, our country, our Church, our institu- tions, and our own respective circles, would be in far happier circumstances than they are, had we been in the practice of more earnest and serious prayer for them ? How can we complain of difficulties, national or personal, how can we justly blame and denounce evil-minded and powerful men, if we have but lightly used the intercessions offered up in the Litany, the Psalms, and in the Holy Communion ? How can we answer to ourselves for the souls who have, in our time, lived and died in sin ; the souls that have been lost and are now waiting for judgment, the infidel, the blasphemer, the profligate, the covetous, the extortioner ; or those again who have died with but doubtful signs of faith, the death-bed penitent, the worldly, the double- minded, the ambitious, the unruly, the trifling, the self-willed, seeing that, for what we know, we were ordained to influence or reverse their present destiny and have not done it ? Secondly and lastly, If so much depend on us, " What manner of persons ought we to be, in all holy conversa- tion and godliness ! " Oh that we may henceforth be more diligent than heretofore, in keeping the mirror of our hearts unsullied and bright, so as to reflect the image of the Son of God in the Father's presence, clean from the dust and stains of this world, from envies and jealousies, strife and debate, bitterness and harshness, indolence and impurity, care and discontent, deceit and meanness, arrogance and boasting! Oh that we may 366 Intercession. labour, not in our own strength, but in the power of God the Holy Spirit, to be sober, chaste, temperate, meek, affectionate, good, faithful, firm, humble, patient, cheerful, resigned, under all circumstances, at all times, among all people, amid all trials and sorrows of this mortal life ! May God grant us the power, according to His promise, through His Son our Saviour Jesus Christ! SEEMON XXV. THE INTERMEDIATE STATE. REV. vi. 11. ! And white robes were given unto every one of them ; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellow- servants also, and their brethren that should be killed as they were, should le fulfilled" I taking these words as a text, I do not profess to give you any sufficient explanation of them. Doubtless in their full meaning they are tcPdeep for mortal man; yet they are written for our reverent contemplation at least, and perchance may yield some- thing, under God's blessing, even though the true and entire sense of them was lost to the Church with him who wrote them. He was admitted into the heaven of heavens, while yet in the flesh, as St. Paul before him. He saw the throne and Him who sat on it; and his words, as those of the prophets under the Law, are rather spontaneous accompaniments on what he saw, than definite and complete descriptions addressed to us. They were provided, indeed, and directed according to our need, by an overruling inspiration ; but the same sacred influence also limited their range, and deter-' 368 The Intermediate State. mined under what aspect and circumstances they should delineate the awful realities of heaven. Thus they are but shadows cast, or at best, lines or portions caught from what is unseen, and they attend upon it after the manner of the Seraphim, with wings covering their face, and wings covering their feet, in adoration and in mystery. Now as to the text itself, it speaks of the Martyrs in their disembodied state, between death and judgment ; according to the foregoing verse, " the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testi- mony which they held." It describes them in a state of rest ; still they cry out for some relief, for vengeance upon their persecutors. They are told to wait awhile, " to rest yet for a little season," till the circle of Martyrs is completed. Meantime they receive some present earnest of the promise, by way of alleviation ; " white robes were given unto every one of them." Some men will say that this is all figurative, and means merely that the blood of the Martyrs, crying now for vengeance, will be requited on their murderers at the last day. I cannot persuade myself thus to dismiss so solemn a passage. It seems a presumption to say of dim notices about the unseen world, " they only mean this or that," as if one had ascended into the third heaven, or had stood before the throne of God. No; I see herein a deep mystery, a hidden truth, which I cannot handle or define, shining "as jewels at the bottom of the great deep," x darkly and tremulously, yet really there. And for this very reason, while it is 1 Davison on "Sacrifice." The Intermediate State. 369 neither pious nor thankful to explain away the words which convey it, while it is a duty to use them, not less a duty is it to use them humbly, diffidently, and teach- ably, with the thought of God before us, and of our own nothingness. Under these, feelings I shall now attempt to comment upon the text, and with reference to the Intermediate State, of which it seems plainly to speak. But it will be best rather to use it as sanctioning and connecting our anticipations of that State, as drawn from more obvious passages of Scripture, than to venture to infer anything from it in the first instance. Also, though it directly speaks of the Martyrs, it may be profitably applied to the case of all Saints whatever; for, the Martyrs being types and first fruits of all, what is true of them, is perchance in some sense true also of their brethren ; and if it be true of any, at least all antecedent objections vanish, against its being true of all, which are the chief arguments we shall have to contend with. Now let us proceed to the consideration proposed. St. John says : — " I saw under the Altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held ; and they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, 0 Lord, holy and true, dost Thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth ? And white robes were given unto every one of them, and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellow- servants also, and their brethren that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled." 1. Now first in this passage we are told that the [in] 2 A 37o The Intermediate State. Saints are at rest. " White robes were given unto every one of them." " It was said unto them that they should rest yet for a little season." This is expressed still more strongly in a later passage of the same book : " Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth. Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours." Again, St. Paul had a desire " to depart and to be with Christ, which (he adds) is far better." And our Lord told the penitent robber, " To-day shalt thou be with Me in paradise." And in the parable He represents Lazarus as being "in Abraham's bosom;" a place of rest surely, if words can describe one. If we had no other notice of the dead than the fore- going, it would appear quite sufficient for our need. The great and anxious question that meets us is, what is to become of us after this life ? We fear for ourselves we are solicitous about our friends, just on this point. They have vanished from us with all their amiable and endearing qualities, all their virtues, all their active powers. Where is that spirit gone, over the wide uni- verse, up or down, which once thought, felt, loved, hoped, planned, acted in our sight, and which, wherever it goes, must carry with it the same affections and principles, desires and aims ? We know how it thought, felt, and behaved itself on earth ; we know that beloved mind, and it knows us, with a mutual consciousness ; — and now it is taken from us, what are its fortunes ? — This is the question which perplexed the heathen of old time. It is fearful to be exposed in this world to ills we know of — to the fury of the elements and the darkness of night, should we be left houseless and shelterless. The Intermediate State. 371 But when we think how utterly ignorant we are both of the soul's nature and of the invisible world, the idea of losing friends, or departing ourselves into such gloom, is, to those who get themselves to think about it, very overpowering. Now, here Scripture meets our need, in the texts already cited. It is enough, surely, to be in Abraham's bosom, in our Saviour's presence; it is enough, after the pain and turmoil of this world, to be at rest. Moreover, texts such as these do more than satisfy the doubts which beset the heathen; they are useful to us at the present day, in a perplexity which may easily befall us. A great part of the Christian world, as is well known, believes that after this life the souls of Christians ordinarily go into a prison called Purga- tory, where they are kept in fire or other torment, till, their sins being burned away, they are at length fitted for that glorious kingdom into which nothing defiled can enter. Now, if there were any good reason for this belief, we should certainly have a very sad and depress- ing prospect before us : — watch and pray and struggle as we might, yet after all to have to pass from the sorrows of this life, from its weariness and its pains, into a second and a worse trial ! Not that we should have any reason to complain : for our sins deserve an eternal punishment, were God severe. Still it would be a very afflicting thought, especially as regarded our deceased friends, who (if the doctrine were true) would now, at this very moment, be in a state of suffering. I do not say that to many a sinner, it would not be an infinitely less evil to suffer for a time in Purgatory, 372 The Intermediate State. than to be cast into hell for ever ; but those whom we have loved best, and revered most, are not of this number ; and before going on to examine the grounds of it, every one must admit it to be a very frightful notion at least, that they should be kept from their rest, and confined in a prison beneath the earth. Nay, though the Bible did not positively affirm it, yet if it did not contradict it, and if the opinion itself was very general in the Church (as it is), and primitive too (as it is not), there would be enough in it reasonably to alarm us; for who could tell in such a case, but probably it might be true ? This is what might have been ; but, in fact, Christ has mercifully interfered, expressly to assure us that our friends are better provided for than this doctrine would make it appear.1 He assures us that they " rest from their labours, and their works do follow them ;" and we gather from the text, that even that loneliness and gloom which, left to themselves, they would necessarily feel, though ever so secured from actual punishment, may, in truth, be mercifully compensated. The sorrowful state is there described, in which they would find themselves when severed from the body, and waiting for the promised glory at Christ's coming, and they are represented as sustained under it, soothed, quieted, consoled. As a parent would hush a child's restlessness, cherishing it in her arms, and lulling it to sleep, or diverting it from the pain or the fright which agitates it, so the season of delay, 1 It ought perhaps to be added, by way of explanation, that the doctrine would of course be binding on our faith, in spite of any primd facie bearing of certain text?, were it, what our formularies imply it is not, a doctrine sanctioned bv the Catholic Church. The Intermediate State. 373 before Christ comes in judgment, tedious in itself, and solitary, is compensated to the spirits of the just by a present gift in earnest of the future joy. " How long, 0 Lord, holy and true ?" Such is their complaint. " And white robes were given unto every one of them ; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season," till the end. 2. Next, in this description is implied, what I have in fact already deduced from it, that departed Saints, though at rest, have not yet received their actual reward. " Their works do follow with them," not yet given in to their Saviour and Judge. They are in an incomplete state in every way, and will be so till the Day of Judgment, which will introduce them to the joy of their Lord. They are incomplete, inasmuch as their bodies are in the dust of the earth, and they wait for the Kesurrection. They are incomplete, as being neither awake nor asleep ; I mean, they are in a state of rest, not in the full employment of their powers. The Angels are serving God actively; they are ministers between heaven and earth. And the Saints, too, one day shall judge the world — they shall judge the fallen Angels ; but at present, till the end comes, they are at rest only, which is enough for their peace, enough for our comfort on thinking of them, still, incomplete, compared with what one day shall be. Further, there is an incompleteness also as regards their place of rest. They are " under the Altar." Not in the full presence of God, seeing His face, and rejoicing 374 The Intermediate State. in His works, but in a safe and holy treasure-house close by, — like Moses, "in a cleft of the rock," — covered by the hand of God, and beholding the skirts of His glory. So again, when Lazarus died, he was carried to Abra- ham's bosom; which, however honoured and peaceful an abode, was a place short of heaven. This is else- where expressed by the use of the word "paradise," or the garden of Eden ; which, again, though pure and peaceful, visited by Angels and by God Himself, was not heaven. No emblem could express more vividly the refreshment and sweetness of that, blessed rest, than to call it the garden in which the first man was placed ; — to which must be added St. Paul's account of it, that he heard in it (when he was caught up thither) " unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter."1 Doubtless, it is full of excellent visions and wonderful revelations. God there manifests Himself, not as on earth dimly, and by material instru- ments, but by those more intimate approaches which spirit admits of, and our present faculties cannot comprehend. And in some unknown way, that place of rest has a communication with this world, so that disembodied souls know what is going on below. The Martyrs, in the passage before us, cry out, " How long, 0 Lord, Holy and True, dost Thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?" They saw what was going on in the Church, and needed comfort from the sight of the triumph of evil. And they obtained white robes and a message of peace. Still, whatever be their knowledge, whatever their 1 2 Cor. xii. 4. The Intermediate State. 375 happiness, they have but lost their tabernacle of cor- ruption, and are " unclothed," and wait to be " clothed upon," having put off "mortality," but not yet being absorbed in "life."1 There is another word used in Scripture to express the abode of just men made perfect, which gives us the same meaning. Our Lord is said in the Creed to have " descended into hell" which word has a very different sense there from that which it commonly bears. Our Saviour, as we suppose, did not go to the abyss assigned to the fallen Angels, but to those mysterious mansions where the souls of all men await the judgment. That He went to the abode of blessed spirits is evident, from His words addressed to the robber on the cross, when He also called it paradise ; that he went to some other place besides paradise, may be conjectured from St. Peter's saying, He " went and preached to the spirits in prison, who had once been disobedient."2 The circum- stance then that these two abodes of disembodied good and bad, are called by one name, Hades, or (as we happen to express it) hell, seems clearly to show that paradise is not the same as Heaven, but a resting-place at the loot of it. Let it be further remarked, that Samuel, when brought from the dead, in the witch's cavern, said, " Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me-Mp?"3 words which would seem quite inconsistent with his- being then already in Heaven. Once more, the Intermediate State is incomplete as regards the happiness of the Saints. Before our Lord came, it may be supposed even to have admitted 1 2 Cor. v. 4. 2 1 Pet. iii. 19, 20. 3 1 Sain, xxviii. 15. 376 The Intermediate State. at times of a measure of disquiet, and that in the case of the greatest Saints themselves, though most surely still they were altogether " in God's hand ; " for Samuel says, " Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up ? " Perchance our Lord reversed this imperfection at His coming, and took with Him, even in their bodies, to heaven itself, some principal Saints of the old Cove- nant ; according to St. Matthew's intimation. But even now, as it would appear from the text, the Blessed, in their disembodied state, admit of an increase ot happiness, and receive it. " They cried out " in com- plaint,— and "white robes were given them;" they were soothed and bid wait awhile. IsTor would it be surprising if, in God's gracious providence, the very purpose of their remaining thus for a season at a distance from heaven, were, that they may have time for growing in all holy things, and perfecting the inward development of the good seed sown in their hearts. The Psalmist speaks of the righteous as " trees planted by the rivers of water, that bring forth their fruit in due season ; " and when might this silent growth of holiness more suitably and happily take place, than when they are waiting for the Day of the Lord, removed from those trials and temptations which were necessary for its early beginnings ? Con- sider how many men are very dark and feeble in their religious state, when they depart hence, though true servants of God as far as they go. Alas ! I know that the multitude of men do not think of religion at all ; — they are thoughtless in their youth, and secular as life goes on; — they find their interest lie in adopting a The Intermediate State. 377 decent profession ; they deceive themselves, and think themselves religious, and (to all appearance) die with no deeper religion than such a profession implies. Alas ! there are many also, who, after careless lives, amend, yet not truly ; — think they repent, but do not in a Christian way. There are a number, too, who leave repentance for their death-bed, and die with no fruits of religion at all, except with so much of subdued and serious feeling as pain forces upon them. All these, as far as we are told, die without hope. But, after all these melancholy cases are allowed for, many there are still, who, beginning well, and persevering for years, yet are even to the end but beginners after all, when death comes upon them ; — many who have been in circumstances of especial difficulty, who have had fiercer temptations, more perplexing trials than the rest, and in consequence have been impeded in their course. Nay, in one sense, all Christians die with their work unfinished. Let them have chastened themselves all their lives long, and lived in faith and obedience, yet still there is much in them unsubdued, — much pride, much ignorance, much unrepented, un- known sin, much inconsistency, much irregularity in prayer, much lightness and frivolity of thought. Who can tell, then, but, in God's mercy, the time of waiting between death and Christ's coming, may be profitable to those who have been His true servants here, as a time of maturing that fruit of grace, but partly formed in them in this life — a school-time of contemplation, as this world is a discipline of active service ? Such, surely, is the force of the Apostle's words, that "He 378 The Intermediate State. that hath begun a good work in us, will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ/' until, not at, not stopping it with death, but carrying it on to the Eesur- rection. And this, which will be accorded to all Saints, will be profitable to each in proportion to the degree of holiness in which he dies ; for, as we are expressly told that in one sense the spirits of the just are perfected on their death, it follows that the greater advance each has made here, the higher will be the line of his subsequent growth between death and the Eesurrection. And all this accounts for what else may surprise us, —the especial stress the Apostles lay on the coming of Christ, as the object to which our hope must be directed. We are used in this day to look upon death as the point of victory and triumph for the Saints ; — we leave the thought of them when life is over, as if then there was nothing more to be anxious about ; nor in one sense is there. Then they are secure from trial, from falling ; as they die, so they remain. Still, it will be found, on the whole, that death is not the object put forward in Scripture for hope to rest upon, but the coming of Christ, as if the interval between death and His coming was by no means to be omitted in the process of our preparation for heaven. Now, if the sacred writers uniformly hold out Christ's coming, but we consider death, as the close of all things, is it not plain that, in spite of our apparent agreement with them in formal statements of doctrine, there must be some hidden and undetected difference between them and ourselves, some unfounded notion on our part which we have inherited, some assumed premiss, some lurking preju- The Intermediate State. 379 dice, some earthly temper, or some mere human principle ? For instance, St. Paul speaks of the Corin- thians as "waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." To the Philippians he says, " Our citizenship is in heaven, from whence also we look out for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile body." In his first Epistle to the Thessalonians, he seems to make this waiting for the Last Day almost part of his definition of a true Christian ; " Ye turned to God from idols, to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven" In his Epistle to Titus, "Looking for that blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great G-od and Saviour, Jesus Christ." To the Hebrews, "Unto them that look for Him, shall Christ appear the second time without sin unto salvation." Again, " Ye have need of patience, that after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come and will not tarry." And to the Eomans, " I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us," i.e. at the Eesurrection ; for the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. . . . We ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body ; " and presently he adds, evidently speaking of things belonging to the unseen world, and (as we may suppose) the Intermediate State inclusively, " I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor Angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, 380 The Intermediate State. nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Again, "He that raised up the Lord Jesus, shall raise up us also ly Jesus, and shall present us with you. Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory ; . . . for we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." ISTow, how parallel is this waiting for Christ's coming, as inculcated in the foregoing passages, to the actual conduct of the Saints as recorded in the passage of which the text forms part ! " How long, 0 Lord, holy and true, dost Thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth ? . . . . And white robes were given unto every one of them, until their fellow-servants also, and their brethren that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled : " — and with our Saviour's words in the Gospel, "Shall not God avenge His own elect, which cry day and night unto Him, though He bear long with them? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Neverthe- less, when the Son of man cometh" (Christ's coming then is the "avenging" for which they cry), "when the Son of man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth."1 This, indeed, is our Saviour's usual doctrine as well as that of His Apostles. I mean, it is his custom to insist 1 1 Cor. i. 7 ; Phil. iii. 20, 21 ; 1 Thess. i. 9, 10 ; Tit. ii. 13 ; Heb. ix. 28 ; x. 36, 37 ; Horn. viii. 18-39 ; 2 Cor. iv. 14-17 ; v. 1 ; Luke xviii. 7, 8. 7 he Intermediate State. 381 on two events chiefly, His first coming and His second — our regeneration and our resurrection — throwing into the background the prospect of our death, as if it were but a line of distinction (however momentous a one), not of division, in the extended course of our purifica- tion. For example : "The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live ;" — the dead in sin ; here, then, our regeneration is set forth. Then He proceeds : " The hour is coming in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth ; they that have done good unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of dam- nation." Here is mentioned His second coming with its attendant events. Again : " In My Father's house are many mansions : if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto Myself, that where I am, there ye may be also." And in the parable of the talents : "A certain nobleman went into a far country, to receive for himself a kingdom and to return ; and he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come."1 Here is mention of Christ's first and His second coming. It is not uncommon, in- deed, to say, that " till I come," means " till every man's death," when in a certain sense Christ comes to him : but surely this is a mere human assumption ; the time of judgment, and not till then, is the time when Christ calls His servants and takes account. 1 John v. 25-29 ; adv. 2, 3 ; Luke xix. 12, 13. 382 The Intermediate State. Lastly, it is the manner of Scripture to imply that all Saints make up but one body, Christ being the Head, and no real distinction existing between dead and living ; as if the Church's territory were a vast field, only with a veil stretched across it, hiding part from us. This at least, I think, will be the impression left on the mind after a careful study of the inspired writers. St. Paul says, " I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named," where "heaven" would seem to include paradise. Presently he declares that there is but " one body," not two, as there is but one Spirit. In another epistle he speaks of Christians in the flesh being " come to the heavenly Jerusalem, and the spirits of just men made perfect." 1 Agreeably to this doc- trine, the collect for All Saints' Day teaches us, that " Almighty God has knit together His elect " (that is, both living and dead), " in one communion and fellow- ship in the mystical body of His Son." This, then, on the whole, we may humbly believe to be the condition of the Saints before the Eesurrection, a state of repose, rest, security ; but again a state more like paradise than heaven — that is, a state which comes short of the glory which shall be revealed in us after the Kesurrection, a state of waiting, meditation, hope, in which what has been sown on earth may be matured and completed. I will make one remark before concluding, by way of applying what has been said to ourselves. There have been times, we know, when men thought too much of 1 Eph. iii. 14, 15; iv. 4; Heb. xii. 22, 23. The Intermediate State. 383 the dead. That is not the fault of this age. We now go into the opposite extreme. Our fault surely is, to think of them too little. It is a miserable thing to confess, yet surely so it is, that when a friend or rela- tive is dead, he is commonly dismissed from the mind very shortly, as though he was not; there is no more talk of him, or reference to him, and the world goes on without him as if he had never been. Now, of course the deepest feelings are those which are silent ; so I do not mean to say that friends are not thought of, because they are not talked of. How could it be ? Can any form of society or any human doctrine fetter down our hearts, and make us think and remember as it will? Can the tyranny of earth hinder our holding a blessed and ever-enduring fellowship with those who are dead, by consulting their wishes, and dwelling upon their image, and trying to imitate them, and imagining their peaceful state, and sympathizing in their "loud cry," and hoping to meet them hereafter ? No, truly ! we have a more glorious liberty than man can take from us, with all the sophistries of selfishness, and subtleties of the schools ! I do not speak of the tender-hearted, affectionate, and thoughtful. They cannot forget the departed, whose presence they once enjoyed, and who (in Scripture language), though " absent in the body, are present with them in spirit," "joying and beholding their order and the steadfastness of their faith in Christ."1 But I speak of the many, the rude, cold, and scornful, the worldly-minded, the gay, and the careless ; whose ordinary way it is, when a friend is removed, to put 1 1 Cor. v. 3 ; Col. ii. 5. 384 The Intermediate State. aside the thought of him, and blot it out from their memories. Let me explain what I mean by taking an instance, •which is not uncommon. We will say, a parent or relative dies and leaves a man a property : he comes into it gladly; buries the dead splendidly; and then thinking he has done all, he wipes out what is past, and enters upon the enjoyment of his benefaction. He is not profuse or profligate, proud or penurious, but he thinks and acts in all respects as if he, to whom he is indebted, were annihilated from God's creation. He has no obligations. He was dependent before, but now he is independent ; he is his own master ; he ceases to be in the number of "little children." Like the Corin- thians, " now he is full, now he is rich, he reigns as a king without" those to whom he once was forced to submit. He is the head of (what is called) an establish- ment. If he ever speaks of the dead, it is in a way half kind, half contemptuous, as of those who are helpless and useless, as he would speak of men still living who were in dotage or in mental incapacity. You hear even the most good-hearted and kindly (such is the force of bad example) speak in this disrespectful way of old people they knew in their youth, not meaning anything unkind by it, but still, doubtless, cherishing in them- selves thereby a very subtle kind of hardness, selfish- ness, superciliousness, self-gratulation. Men little think what an effect all this has on their general character. It teaches them to limit their belief to what they see. They give up a most gracious means divinely provided for their entering into " that which is within the veil," The Intermediate State. 385 and seeing beyond the grave ; and they learn to be con- tented in uniting themselves "with things visible, in connections and alliances which come to nought. More- over, this same error casts them upon the present instead of the past. They lose their reverence for antiquity ; they change the plans and works of their predecessors without scruple; they enjoy the benefac- tions of past ages without thankfulness, as if by a sort of right ; they worship in churches for which " other men laboured," without thinking of them ; they forget they have but a life-interest in what they possess, that they have received it in trust, and must transmit as they have received. On the other hand, while the thought of the dead is thus a restraint upon us, it is also a great consola- tion, especially in this age of the world, when the Universal Church has fallen into errors and is divided branch against branch. What shall sustain our faith (under God's grace) when we try to adhere to the Ancient Truth, and seem solitary ? What shall nerve the "watchman on the walls of Jerusalem," against the scorn and jealousy of the world, the charge of sin- gularity, of fancifulness, of extravagance, of rashness ? What shall keep us calm and peaceful within, when accused of " troubling Israel," and " prophesying evil ? " What but the vision of all Saints of all ages, whose steps we follow? What but the image of Christ mystical stamped upon our hearts and memories? The early times of purity and truth have not passed away ! They are present still ! We are not solitary, though we seem so. Few now alive may understand [m] 2 B 386 The Intermediate State. or sanction us ; but those multitudes in the primitive time, who believed, and taught, and worshipped, as we do, still live unto God, and, in their past deeds and their present voices, cry from the Altar. They animate us by their example ; they cheer us by their company ; they are on our right hand and our left, Martyrs, Con- fessors, and the like, high and low, who used the same Creeds, and celebrated the same Mysteries, and preached the same Gospel as we do. And to them were joined, as ages went on, even in fallen times, nay, even now in times of division, fresh and fresh witnesses from the Church below. In the world of spirits there is no difference of parties. It is our plain duty indeed here, to contend even for the details of the Truth according to our light ; and surely there is a Truth in spite of the discordance of opinions. But that Truth is at length simply discerned by the spirits of the just; human additions, human institutions, human enactments, enter not with them into the unseen state. They are put off with the flesh. Greece and Eome, England and France, give no colour to those souls which have been cleansed in the One Baptism, nourished by the One Body, and moulded upon the One Faith. Adversaries agree to- gether directly they are dead, if they have lived and walked in the Holy Ghost. The harmonies combine1 and fill the temple, while discords and imperfections die away. Therefore is it good to throw ourselves into the unseen world, it is " good to be there," and to build tabernacles for those who speak "a pure language" and " serve the Lord with one consent ; " not indeed to draw them forth from their secure dwelling-places, not The Intermediate State. 387 superstitiously to honour them, or wilfully to rely on them, lest they be a snare to us, but silently to con- template them for our edification ; thereby encouraging our faith, enlivening our patience, sheltering us from thoughts about ourselves, keeping us from resting on ourselves, and making us seem to ourselves (what really we ought ever to be) only followers of the doctrine of those who have gone before us, not teachers of novelties, not founders of schools. God grant to us all, out of the superabundant treasures of His grace, such a spirit, the spirit of mingled teachableness and zeal, of calmness in inquiry and vigour in resolve, of power, and of love, and of a sound mind ! THE END. Sanson &> Co., Printers, Edinburgh. BX 5133 .N4P3 1868 V.3 SMC NEWMAN, JOHN HENRY, 1801-1890. PAROCHIAL AND PLAIN SERMONS / AKA-8017 (MCAB)